


Ever The Same

by CordeliaOllivander



Series: Ever The Same [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gryffindor Draco Malfoy, Hogwarts, M/M, Ravenclaw Theodore Nott, Slytherin Harry Potter, Unconventional Families
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-06 05:45:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 49,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16382516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CordeliaOllivander/pseuds/CordeliaOllivander
Summary: The wizarding war believes the war to be over, and Voldemort defeated, but a select few know that they have a long way to go. Sirius Black and Narcissa Malfoy being two of them. What will they do protect their family? Follow Draco, Theo and Harry through their Hogwarts journey together, as they face the trials of The Boy Who Lived. Year One- The Sorcerer's Stone through the eyes of a Gryffindor Draco. Most relationships to come in later years.





	1. The Sorcerer's Stone

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! This is my first posting an AO3, I post under FFN as the same pen name, but I've been wanting to try it here, too. I'm super excited about this story, its got some very interesting pairings and I hope you all enjoy!   
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

****

 

**Chapter 1**

**June 16, 1977**

"I don't have a choice Siri. Mother is still livid over Andromeda, and Bella found that horrible Lestrange boy, I have to make an equally-"

"Horrendous decision?!" Sirius spat at his cousin. "Cissa, you don't have to live this life!"

"That's easy for you to say!" She hissed, doing her best to show her annoyance without raising her voice. The last thing she needed was to be caught out of bed after curfew with Sirius Black.

"It is easy for me to say, because I've done it. You don't have to go back. I can talk to James, his parents would surely let you stay. Or Pete, his dad loves me!"

"No. No I can't, I have to do this."

"Why, Cissa?" He pleaded.

"It's what's expected of me." She tried to put some pride into her voice, but couldn't manage it.

"That's bullshit." Sirius said as he turned away from her. " _I_ expected more from you! You're nothing like the rest of them!"

"What would I do, Sirius? Tell me." She demanded. "Andromeda already met Ted in Hogwarts, she had him for support. You're graduating this year, and next year I'll be here alone."

"I can still protect you, you can live with me when you're not at Hogwarts."

"I'm not of age, I can't do anything about that!"

"You'll still have Reggie, I know he and I have our problems, but if you went to him I know he would protect you."

Narcissa shook her head. "He's not the same since you left, Siri. He's cold now, not like you. Not anymore."

"Cissa, please don't do this." He begged. "Let me help, give me some time to figure this out."

"There is no time, Mother and Father are to sign the contract soon."

"Does it have to be Lucius bloody Malfoy? Cissa, that jackass is a tool."

She snorted in amusement. A small smile lighting her face for the first time since she heard the news of her apparent engagement. "Phaedra Flint has been betrothed to Tobias Nott. It could be worse."

Sirius shook his head. "It's amazing Fay turned out as wonderful as she did, with a last name like Flint."

"Same for you, Sirius _Black_."

He went to her and put his hands on her small shoulders. "There are a few good apples on every tree."

Narcissa leaned in and rested her forehead against his chest. She would miss him.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Because there is nothing that can be done about it. I wasn't even told until the engagement was already underway. I'm so sorry, Siri. I know you're disappointed-"

"Shh. Enough of that. We'll figure this out. I won't let anything happen to you."

She nodded, even though they both knew those words weren't true. She would marry Lucius Malfoy, and she would never see Sirius or her secret friends again. At least she had Fay, she was certain she would still be able to visit her. They could stick together.

"It's late, I'll walk you back. I have the cloak."

"I still wonder where in Salazar's name James got this thing."

"He won't even tell me, just that it was a gift from his old man. Truthfully, I don't think he knows where it came from. It's pretty wicked though." He grinned as he pulled out the invisibility cloak and draped it over the both of them. Narcissa was small enough that she could still fit, Sirius however was a good five inches taller than she was, and had to crouch under it so it would hide the both of them.

They walked down to the Slytherin dormitories in silence, not wanting to risk getting caught out of bed by Filch. The man had it out for Sirius, he was convinced. He and James had spent more Saturday's in detention during their years at Hogwarts than out. 

"I'll miss you, Sirius." Narcissa whispered once they reached the dungeons.

"Don't speak like that, I will figure this out."

"There's only two weeks left, and then we leave, and you graduate. I have to go home, you can't get me out of that."

"I will figure something out." He repeated. He had to. He watched as she disappeared behind the stone wall that opened up when she whispered the password, then quietly made his way up to Gryffindor tower. It was nearly midnight, but he knew that his friends would be up waiting for him. Maybe Lily would be in their dorm, or Alice. Surely they would be able to help him.

Once he entered Gryffindor tower he walked quietly up the stairs and into his dorm, where sure enough, all of his friends were waiting for him.

"Well, what's going on?" James asked the moment the door was shut. He and Lily were sitting on his bed, while Frank and Alice were on the floor with Pete playing exploding snap.

His friends had always been night owls. Remus and Marlene McKinnon were lounging on his bed reading, but certainly not sleeping. Alice, Marley, Cissa and Fay were all a year younger than the marauders, as they liked to call themselves these days.

"It's bad." He breathed as he plopped down on his own bed, staring up at the dark red canopy. Everyone waited in silence for him to tell them why Narcissa needed to speak with him tonight. "She's being forced to marry Lucius Malfoy."

Clear gasps from the girls made him chuckle softly. At least they were as appalled as he was. "My thoughts exactly."

"Well we can't let that happen!" Lily exclaimed. "We can't let her ruin her life like that!"

"Right, there has to be something. I've always liked Narcissa." Alice said right after. When Sirius didn't say anything they all shared nervous glances.

Marlene got up from her spot on her boyfriends bed to sit beside Sirius. "She doesn't want you to do anything."

Sirius gave her a sad smile. "It's no wonder you're with Moony, smart witch you are."

"You had your chance." She joked.

Which they all knew wasn't true at all, Remus and Marley had been smitten with each other for years. Sirius fully expected them to marry the day after they graduated.

"I'm not sure what I can do, I kept telling her I would figure it out, but... I don't think I can." His voice was shaky, unable to control it any longer. He had always loved Narcissa. She didn't belong with those whack jobs they had for a family. Andy was able to get out, but at great cost. Even Sirius hardly ever heard from her. And Bella was a lost cause to begin with, he would never say it out loud, but they all knew. Bellatrix was unstable at best, when they heard of her engagement to Lestrange, they knew she would be trouble.

"She's underage, so she can't stay with any of us. I said I would ask mom and dad." He said as he looked to James. "Or maybe she could stay with Lily and Tuni, or Alice. Hell, I even offered up Pete's house for the summer."

"My folks wouldn't mind, I know it." Peter said to him, which made Sirius smile. He really had the best of friends. All these lost causes that came with him were the price of being friends with Sirius Black.

"Everything she said was right. She can't stay with us because her parents will just drag her back, she'll be alone at Hogwarts next year-"

"She will not! She has us!" Alice nearly shouted.

"I love you so much, Ally, but you know what she means."

Alice's shoulders slumped as she nodded. Frank kissed her temple in an attempt to comfort her.

"She also told me poor Fay has been promised to... God, I can't even say it... Tobias Nott."

"You're kidding?! Phaedra? He's even more of a bastard than Malfoy!" Remus yelled.

"Maybe..." Lily began nervously. "Maybe I could speak to Severus. He would be able to at least watch out for them."

"Lils, Snivellus isn't going to help. He's just as deep as Bellatrix." James reminded her.

"You two haven't spoken for over a year." Marley said gently.

"I know, but... he's not all bad. I know there is some good hidden in there. Somewhere."

"I don't want your heart broken again when he says he can't help you." Sirius said softly. Sirius had his own reasons for not liking Severus Snape, as did the rest of them, but for some reason Lily still believed there was something there when there clearly wasn't.

"Well that's for me to worry about." She responded sternly.

"Fine." He breathed. He wasn't in the mood to argue with her tonight. "I don't want to talk about it anymore. I'm writing a letter to Tuni then I'm turning in."

"We'll give you some space, then." Marley said immediately. She patted his thigh before she got up and went back to Remus's bed so Sirius could shut his curtains.

"I'll be better in the morning, there's nothing we can do about it tonight anyway." Sirius said glumly.

"Right. We'll think on it tomorrow." Remus assured him.

Everyone went back to their beds, or in Lily and Alice's case, their boyfriends beds, to prepare for bed.

Sirius dug around for some parchment and the fountain pen Petunia gave him for his birthday last year. He loved that pen. It wrote just as nicely as a quill, and was black and shiny, with his initials engraved in bright red and gold. Once he was settled he began his letter.

_Hello, my Flower._

_I hope you had a wonderful day, mine has not been pleasant. I don't want to explain it all right now, I'll tell you later I promise. Right now I just want to think about you. I'm bursting with nervous energy at just the thought of you, I'll be graduating in two weeks, my love! Think of all the time we can spend together then. Think of the things we can do, when ever we want to do them. I've been dreaming of those days for so long now. Don't get me wrong, I love this castle, it's been more of a home to me than anything else I've felt, other than the Potter's house. But to be able to wake up next to you, knowing that we no longer have to worry about time, I can't wait. Lily is just as excited, she says you two are getting a flat together, and you can finish your last year of university there. Expect me to be over every single night! Either that or the two of you will be at the flat Prongs and I plan to get. I don't care where we sleep, as long as it's together. It's getting late, my dear, so I'll end this love sick letter. I miss you, and can't wait to see you._

_Love Always, Sirius._

Deciding to send it off tomorrow, he laid down beside the rolled up letter and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 

Sirius didn't receive any letters from Petunia the week of graduation. He'd sent four letters and got no response. He'd asked Lily if she thought that was strange but she didn't think anything of it. Just said they were were most likely very busy with coming up for their graduation ceremony and she was sure they would hear from them soon. His mind was going wild with worry, not for their relationship, but for her safety. He'd heard of things even in the muggle world getting bad. Disappearances, unexplained murders, homes being ransacked and destroyed by unknown forces. If he didn't hear anything from her by tonight he was grabbing his broom and flying all the way to Cokeworth himself! He couldn't deal with this, not now. The fear of the unknown on top of what he was already dealing with in trying to figure out how to get Narcissa out of the mess she was in.

Really he was just killing time in being here, there exams were already taken, he was eighteen and could leave if he damn well pleased. Deciding enough was enough, he ran from the great hall intending to find Lily and tell her that he was leaving. He'd barely made it passed the two heavy double doors when a frantic redhead slammed into him.

"Sirius!" She cried.

"Lily?! Lily, what's wrong? Tell me!" A heavy feeling settled in his stomach, and he just knew it was about Petunia and something was very wrong.

"Sirius, we have to go. The headmaster is letting us floo to Diagon Alley, where we can apparate to the hospital."

"Hospital? Lily, what the hell is going on?"

"I don't know!" She yelled as the tears streamed down her face. "Mrs. Henderson, the lady next door has been trying to reach us, I guess she went to Diagon this morning and begged for someone to help her get a hold of someone here at the castle. Mom must have told her what to do in an emergency. Anyway, Aberforth Dumbledore flooed the headmaster and said there was an emergency and we have to leave right now, Sirius!"

"Why didn't they send something with my owl?" He shouted as they took off running. "I've been sending letters every day!"

"Your owl doesn't stick around, you know that. And they couldn't find the one you bought for Tuni."

Despite the situation, Sirius let himself smile. The eagle owl he bought for her was a very snobby bird, and only came around when she felt like it. Usually she was always there when Tuni needed to send a letter, which made Sirius worry even more. "What do you know that you're not telling me?"

"All I know is that it has something to do with mom, dad and Tuni. Come on, we're wasting time!"

Normally Sirius would've pointed out that they were running as fast as they could possibly go, with people giving them strange looks and shouting at them to slow down, but he kept that to himself this time and just tried to pick up the pace.

Thankful that he didn't have to explain, they flooed to the Leaky Cauldron then disparated the moment they were there. Lily grabbed his hand and ran with him to the next block, were the hospital was. Sirius stood awkwardly as Lily spoke to the witch working at the reception desk. Intensive care unit, that didn't sound good he thought. He knew a little about muggle medicine, but the grim look on the woman's face wasn't comforting.

They took the lift to the correct floor, sprinting down the hall as soon as the doors opened. They spotted Mrs. Henderson outside talking to someone in crisp white robe looking clothes. The young man turned to them when he heard the commotion.

"Lily, oh thank heavens you made it!" Mrs. Henderson breathed as she embraced her in a hug.

"What's happened?" Sirius demanded. He was out of breath and worried sick, expecting to hear the worst.

"Please, let's have a seat." The healer man said to him.

"I'd rather not." He said tightly. He was fidgety and nervous and sitting wasn't going to help.

"Sirius, please." Lily said as she pulled away from the older woman. "Sir, my name is Lily Evans, and this is Sirius Black, a very close family friend."

The man nodded. "I'm Dr. Hughes, I've been assigned to your sisters care."

"Where are my parents? What happened to Petunia?" She questioned.

"Miss Evans, your parents and sister were involved in a car crash two days ago."

"Two days ago! Why wasn't I notified sooner?!"

"I couldn't remember the name of your boarding school." Mrs. Henderson apologized. "I'm sure your parents told me at one point, but I never expected to have to contact you in such an emergency."

"Miss Evans, the car crash was severe. Both of your parents were rushed here for their injuries, they were both in surgery for quite some time. I am very sorry to have to tell you this, but they didn't survive."

"No. No." She shook her head in shock. "No. My- my parents are... what about-" she choked on her sob and Sirius held her tightly.

"Petunia?" He finished coarsely.

"Your sister is in critical condition. She was pinned inside the car and the blood loss and trauma to her body was serious. She has several broken ribs, a broken leg, and ruptured spleen, among several other things. She has been sedated for now to allow her body to heal, she isn't aware of your parents yet."

"She's been asleep for two days?" Sirius asked him.

"More or less, yes. Her surgery took several hours and she's been sedated ever since."

"We need to see her." Lily whispered.

"Of course." He stepped aside and opened the door behind him quietly.

Sirius felt like he was hit in the gut by a hippogriff. Seeing his girlfriend lying there, bruised and bandaged was more than he could take. "Lily, I can't."

"Sirius, I need you. She needs you. You're all she has left." She whispered.

Her words hit him hard. He was all she had left, her parents were dead and Sirius and Lily were all she had now. He nodded and followed her in, his hand clutched tightly in hers. They each took a seat on either side of her, just looking at her. Petunia's face was badly bruised. She had two black eyes and a bandage wrapped around her head. Her bare arms were bruised and scratched with deep cuts, most likely from the broken glass from the car windows. She had heavy blankets covering the rest of her, and to be honest Sirius was afraid to look. One leg appeared to be propped up on several pillows, he assumed that was the broken one.

"Oh, Flower." He sobbed, unable to stay strong anymore. He held her warm hand in his cold clammy one as gently as he could, trying to pour all the love he could into that embrace. She had to make it, she just had to. He selfishly couldn't go through this life without her.

* * *

Sirius missed his graduation, choosing to stay at the hospital instead. He insisted that Lily go, it was so important to her after all. Not to say Petunia wasn't, but Lily had worked so hard and excelled in everything she did, she deserved the acknowledgement. James stopped in one night to bring a bag of clean clothes and few personal things. Sirius was grateful, since he refused to leave her side even for a moment. It was a full week before she woke up.

Lily and James were in the corner of the room playing chess on a small table they had transfigured, while Sirius read aloud to Petunia. He couldn't stand the quiet, and had to do something to fill the silence. The only thing he had was one of his charms books that was shoved in the bottom of his bag James brought, so it would have to do. Sirius stopped reading the moment he heard her sharp intake of breath.

"Tuni?" He whispered, in shock that she was finally awake.

Her eyes squinted against the light, and Sirius waved his hand immediately to dim them. She smiled at him and that small smile healed the cracks in his tattered heart. "Tuni?"

"S- Siri-"

"Shh, I- I'm here." He gently grazed her cheek with his hand, grateful that here eyes were a little more open and she was looking right at him. That had to be a good sign.

"Where am I?"

Lily was by her side in a heartbeat. "You're at St. Thomas's. You were in an accident."

"Where's Mom and Dad? Did they get everything ready? What day is it?" Her voice hoarse from not using it for so long.

"Slow down Flower, you'll exhaust yourself." Sirius said quietly. He didn't want to tell her, not yet.

"I'll get the doctor." James said as he stood, mostly to give them a moment.

Lily nodded over at him, then turned back to her sister. "What do you remember?"

Petunia took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "We were moving everything to the house, it was supposed to be a surprise."

"A surprise?"

"Yes." She breathed to Sirius. "For you and Lily and James. James' parents found a house in a place called Godric's Hollow, for the four of us, it's really nice. Mom and Dad helped them buy it. They haven't showed it to you have they? I wanted to see your face."

"No, no they haven't showed it to us." Lily said quickly.

"Good." She smiled, completely unaware that Sirius's heart was shattering all over again. "We were moving everything in, decorating and making everything perfect for when you graduated. And we planned a party, did I miss it?"

Lily looked to Sirius nervously. "Petunia, sweetie. You've been in a coma for over a week, we graduated last Friday."

"I missed it?" She said, getting upset.

"Calm down, it's alright. It doesn't matter." Sirius cooed, the last thing she needed was to get worked up.

"I bought a new dress and everything. Red, just for you. I was excited to wear it. I remember..." she paused as she looked down at herself for the first time. "I remember it was raining, Dad lost control of the car and swerved into the other side of the road... we were in a car accident. Lily, are they okay?" Her sisters eyes filled with tears, causing her own eyes to water. "They're not, are they?"

"Flower, your parents... they didn't... the died shortly after the accident. The doctors did everything they could, but they didn't make it." He tired to keep his voice even, but the way she was looking at him, he couldn't hold this up for long.

James arrived with the doctor shortly behind him then, just as Petunia began to cry hysterically.

"This is all my fault! I wanted things to be perfect! They had to be perfect!"

"No, no, sweetie none of this is your fault!" Lily tried to reason.

"Miss Evans, you need to calm down." Dr. Hughes said gently. "Your body is still healing, and we have much to discuss." He turned to the rest of the people in the room. "If we could have some privacy, I need to examine Miss Evans, I'll call you back in shortly."

Sirius was very reluctant to leave her, but he didn't want to get in the way of the doctors. "I'll be just outside." He assured her.

The three of them waited outside for over an hour. James had sent word to the rest of their friends that Petunia was finally awake, but said to wait on visiting since they weren't sure if she'd be up for it. When the door opened and the doctor stepped out Sirius was instantly on his feet.

"I've filled her in on the extensive damage the accident caused, and she's asked to be alone for the time being. It is my suggestion that you let her rest." Without another word he walked away.

Sirius looked back at Lily and James, then went inside anyway. "Petunia?" He whispered as he shut the door. He noticed the lights were back on, but much dimmer.

"Sirius." Her voice void of anything at all.

"The doctor said you wished to be alone-"

"And clearly you didn't listen."

He tried to smirk at her. "When do I ever do that?" He sat on her bed and took her hand in his. "Talk to me, love."

"They've told me what the car accident did to me. What the surgery was for. Did Lily tell you?"

"She did, yes."

At his words she starting crying. "I'm so sorry, Siri."

"Sorry? Love, what for?"

"The bleeding, it wouldn't stop. They said that there was too much damage... that they had no choice." She sniffed in an effort to get her emotions under control, and Sirius waited patiently for her to continue. "They had to do a hysterectomy."

"I know that."

"But do you know what that means? It means I can never have children."

"There's healers in the wizarding world, too. We can consult with them-"

"Sirius, you don't understand. The parts, the organs that make it possible for a woman to carry a child, I don't have those anymore. I will never be able to produce or carry a child. Ever." She ripped her hand from his and covered her face. "I wanted to give you sons. I wanted to show you that you are more than that wretched family you came from. I wanted to to give you sons just like you!"

His hands encircled her wrists and carefully pulled her hands way from her face. "Petunia Evans, look at me." When her eyes met his he saw the sheer torture behind them, the amount of grief and sadness that was there. "Flower, I'd hate to sound heartless, but I don't care. I don't care that we will never have children of our own. I will have you and that is all I need. You are all I will ever need. I've been scared out of my mind for the last two weeks worrying about you, and as long as we have each other, that's all I will ever need. You are perfect, Petunia. You, as you are right now, are perfect."

"Oh Sirius." She cried. She let him hold her, cherishing the way his arms came around her and she felt so safe. "I have such a headache." 

"You should rest. I'll stay here with you."

"No, I'm alright. You should get out for a bit, go see Remus and Marley. If I know you Sirius Black you haven't left this room. Go get something decent to eat. I'll still be here." She tried to joke.

He knew that she needed time to think about everything. This was just what she did, she had a plan for everything. She was a perfectionist and a neat freak and Sirius will never understand what she sees in him , but he's learned not to question it.

"They cut my hair." She said plainly.

"I noticed." He said as he ran his hand along her bandaged forehead. She'd always loved her perfectly straight brown hair. "I'll cut mine, too. If you want."

"Don't you dare, Siri." She warned.

He chuckled. "I love you, so much."

"I love you, too."

"Rest now. I'll be back, soon."

She nodded and closed her eyes, not wanting to watch him leave.

* * *

At Sirius's request, James took him to the house in Godric's Hollow. He could pretend to be surprised if Petunia still wanted it to be one, but he needed to see it. He knew she would blame herself for the accident for the rest of her life, she just wanted everything to be perfect. She wanted them to all be together, he knew it killed her every time the three of them had to leave for school. He wasn't even sure if Petunia had any genuine friends at her own university. All of her friends were their friends from Hogwarts.

He stared at the perfect little cobblestone cottage in front of him in awe. With its perfect stone fence and perfect bushes and flowers and perfect drive for Petunia's car. It was simply perfect. They walked in and Sirius was hit with how much like home it felt. It's creamy tan walls and hardwood floors with exposed beams on the ceiling. The huge fireplace on the far living room wall, the way you could see the whole room from the wide open country kitchen. The warm red rugs and red throw pillows to match. Then he saw the huge banner hanging in the dining room.

_Welcome Home!_

"She did all this?"

James nodded. "Mom and Dad found it, and I guess the place was cheap because it needed a lot of work, so they bought it. Mr. and Mrs. Evans paid for the renovations. Petunia decorated it. Every room, even ours."

"I'm sure she did." Sirius smiled. "I planned on living in some tight little flat in London, nothing like this."

"She worked really hard. Lily was so proud of her when she told her that she finished university early and-"

"Wait, what?"

James looked confused and first, then realized that Sirius didn't know. "Shit! I just ruined it, didn't I?"

"She finished uni early?"

"Yes, she graduated in May. A full year early, she doubled up classes to be finished at the same time as you. I guess even took a few night courses."

"I wanted to see her graduate." Sirius told him.

"She wanted to see you graduate, too. Now neither of you can feel bad about that, can you."

"I guess not." He agreed. He would never bring up her graduating without him, she had worked so hard so they could start their life together. They'd spent enough time apart.

"We can go now. I don't want to spoil the surprise of the bedroom for her, I just had to see it."

"We'll have that big party when she's able to come home. I know it meant a lot to her."

"It's all going to be different now."

"We can handle it." James said confidently. "We're brothers marrying sisters, and we can handle whatever comes our way."

Sirius looked over and smiled, the weight that had settled in his chest for the last two weeks finally starting to disappear. James was right. Together, they could handle anything.


	2. Chapter  2

**Chapter 2**

**October 31st, 1981**

Petunia was just leaving work so she could get home and celebrate Halloween with Harry. James and Lily didn't plan on taking him out that night, since it was too risky, so Petunia decided to rent a few movies and bought way too much candy to have a little party of their own. They would all dress up in silly costumes and hopefully it would relieve some of the tension that constantly seemed to saturate the air. She had been trying for four months now to get a hold of Remus, but not being magical herself it was hard to track the man down. Her owl always brought her letters back unopened and she was running out of ideas. He was so ordinary that anyone that came across him would most likely forget him the second he left their company. The only feature worth remembering were his scars, which she was sure he kept well hidden.

Ever since he and Sirius had that horrible fight, she had neither seen or heard from him. Sirius was distraught with worry twenty-four seven these days, only trusting the four people he still spoke to; James, Lily, Peter, and herself. Even the other aurors he worked with he'd deemed untrustworthy. She had no idea where the Longbottom's were, Marlene never came around anymore ever since she and Remus broke it off. Sirius probably wouldn't trust her either, and would call her a spy and a traitor just as he did Remus.

Pushing those thoughts aside, she rushed to get home from St. Francis Children's Hospital, where she worked. Being a hospital administrator was exhausting and time consuming, but she loved it. She had just reached her car and started the engine, anxious to get home and decorate, when she saw a bright ball of blue light heading straight towards her. She got out just as the dog took form.

_Tuni, somethings wrong. I've just been to Wormtail's, get somewhere safe! DO NOT go home!_

Without a second thought she got back in the car and raced home to Godric's Hollow as fast as she could, not giving a damn that he told her not to. Sirius would never risk magic exposure unless it was life or death, and that didn't set well with her at all.

The street was crowded with aurors and bystanders, all trying to figure out what happened. Leaving the car running and the door open she ran down the street, hoping to find anyone she recognized.

"Move! Get out of my way!" She pushed and shoved her way to the front of the scene, where once she saw her house blown to pieces she gasped. She walked forward in shock, when a hand grabbed her by the arm and yanked her back.

"Excuse me, Miss. This area is off limits."

Petunia whipped around and came face to face with a young auror she'd never met before. "Do you know who I am? I am Petunia Black, and I demand to know what happened here!"

"Jenkins, back off." Someone barked from behind them.

"Mad-Eye." She breathed as the man unhanded her. "What the hell happened?"

"Voldemort was here, he found them."

"What? No."

"Sirius has gone AWOL, and Lily and James are dead."

Her world was crumbling before her. "What? Sirius is gone? Lily and James...?" Mad-Eye said this so matter-of-factly that he could have been talking about anything. "Where's Harry?!" She panicked.

"Hagrid took him to Dumbledore."

"What the hell for?"

"Harry is safest there until we can figure this out, once it's over he'll be returned to you. Now step aside. I've told you all I can." He pushed passed her and just like that she was cast aside. Tangling her hands in her hair she walked back to the car. She hadn't the slightest idea what to do now. She drove around for hours, her eyes stinging from exhaustion and tears. It was nearly one in the morning when she finally found herself on her street again. The place was quiet and empty, all the commotion from earlier having died down.

She looked at her broken house, and the harsh reality of her life now hit her. Her brother and sister dead, her husband missing, her nephew gone. Not daring to go inside the house, she pulled into the single car garage and slept in her car, desperately trying to think about what she was going to do now.

* * *

The next morning she decided to be brave and went inside. Harry's room was in shambles and she ran passed it, not wanting to see anything that would remind her that her brother and sister most likely died in that room protecting their only child. She grabbed a few things from her and Sirius's room, then ran out again and left to check into a hotel several hours away, where no one would recognize her. She sat there all day in complete silence when the pounding of someone at the door scared her half to death. Finally noticing it was dark out, she peaked out the peep hole. Unlocking the door she came face to waist with Rubeus Hagrid.

"Hagrid? How did you find me?"

"Dumbledore sent me." He said as she stepped aside so he could duck into the room. He sat on the other bed in the room, the poor piece of furniture creaking violently under his weight. "I brough' Harry to ya."

"Harry!" She noticed the little bundle in his arms and took him right away. "Oh my God, Harry." She cried.

"Little tike fell asleep just as we were flying over Bristol."

She ran her fingers through his soft hair, thanking anyone that was listening that Harry was alright, then she saw his scar. "What happened?" She asked as she touched it gently.

"Curse scar, I reckon." He said grimly. "You-Know-Who tried ter kill him, but somehow Harry survived an' it killed him instead."

"What? How?"

"Don't know. Dumbledore asked if ye had somewhere safe ter go. What're ye gonna do now?"

Petunia simply shook her head. "I don't know. Has no one heard from Sirius?"

Hagrid averted his eyes, and Petunia knew he knew something. "Hagrid." She warned.

"I didn' wanna be the one to tell ye!" He practically cried. "Sirius has been arrested. For the murder of-"

"What?! No, that impossible! He would never-"

"I tried ter say so! They're callin' him a traitor and a supporter of You-Know-Who."

"He absolutely was not!" She yelled.

"He's in Azkaban righ' now. I'm sorry Tunia."

"No! No this is all wrong! Sirius is innocent! He sent me a patronus and said that he... Hagrid! Has anyone talked to Peter!"

Hagrid looked at her sadly. "Tunia, They're sayin' Sirius killed Peter. Peter tracked him down an' they had a fight I suppose an' Sirius killed him an' twelve muggles."

Petunia stared at him in shock. This couldn't be happening.

"He got life in Azkaban."

"He's had a trial already?!" She was a muggle but even she knew that there were wizarding laws against that kind of thing. His face told her all she needed to know though. He'd been thrown in there without a trial, and no one thought to tell her. Her brain was in overdrive, trying to figure out what to do now.

"Do ye have someplace ter go?" Hagrid asked again.

"I-" she was about to say no, you idiot! My house got blown up, remember?! But then she remembered. "Yes, Sirius's parents house. His brother passed and that means the house belongs to Sirius, we got the notification when his father died."

"I'll tell Dumbledore, then." Without another word, he left.

"Oh, Harry." She sobbed as she was left in silence once again. "What are we going to do?"

* * *

**November 21st, 1981**

Narcissa Malfoy sat quietly, rocking her son in his nursery. Everything had to be precise, the plan had to work perfectly, the slightest flaw would ruin everything. She'd been going over their plans for the last three weeks, remembering every single detail. The second she heard that the Potter's had been murdered, she knew she had to get out of here, that even though everyone believed that Voldemort was gone and the war over, she knew better. She couldn't raise her children like this. No, she had to get them out of this life. If it took her last breath she would never let her children grow up to be anything like their father. Laying a hand across her still flat stomach, she looked down at her son asleep in her arms while she thought of the child that was yet to come. She hated Lucius. Hated everything about him. His arrogant attitude, his death eater ways, his horrid friends. But most of all, she hated when he entered her private bed chamber, expecting to be able to use her like some corner slut. When she realized she was with child, she began plotting a way out. Only with the news of James and Lily being ambushed and murdered did she finally begin taking steps to make sure her plan would work.

Grimmauld Place sat abandoned, she and Phaedra could get there easily enough then she could enact the blood wards that would add additional protection. She was positive they would be safe there, for the time being. Next, she had to figure out a way to get Sirius out of Azkaban. The man was innocent, she knew it in her bones. And she knew who the real traitor was, she would gladly offer whatever information she could on Peter Pettigrew to the aurors in exchange for their safety. Lucius and Tobias would put up one hell of a fight, and she had to win. If she didn't, she would be as good as dead and Draco would grow up to be just like him. Molded to fit into the perfect death eater that Lucius always dreamed about.

She just had to make it for another three weeks. She knew they were planning something big, she just didn't know what. She hadn't seen Reggie in over a year and Severus never spoke to her anymore, not trusting her loyalties. She scolded herself for not putting on a better show, she had to get better at that. She wondered how many of her friends had survived the terrible things her husbands friends had done. She knew Marley had died, that bastard wiping out her entire family. She thought of Remus and how heartbroken he must be, she was murdered just before the Potter's. Most likely for not giving up any information. Voldemort was such a fool, the order members always stood firm, they would rather die than betray any of the other members. Well, nearly all of them, she thought with a scowl.

She hadn't heard anything on Frank or Alice Longbottom. She knew they had gotten married a while back. She hoped they were still safe.

She closed her tired eyes as she got up and laid Draco down on the bed next to her. This was the one room she knew she was safe in, since Lucius never bothered to enter. She knew she couldn't hide in here forever, but she could try.

* * *

**December 12th, 1981**

Tonight was the night. The death eaters had found some kind of lead and were all gathering to figure out their next move. There was still no sign of Voldemort's return, but they still had a job to do. She didn't know what that was, but she really didn't care. As long as it allowed her to make her escape, they could do whatever they damn well pleased. Waiting the extra three weeks was practically torture, but Lucius was tense with excitement at something, so she knew that waiting would give them the better advantage. In less than two hours she and Phaedra could make their escape.

Once Lucius finally left, Narcissa made sure she had everything they needed. She was rather gifted in charms, and had packed several things into a small pocket sized handbag she could easily conceal. With everything ready to go, she carefully picked up her son and flooed over to Nott Mansion to meet Phaedra. Hopefully she was ready.

"Cissa!" Fay screamed as she was stepping out of the floo.

"What?" She didn't like the panic on her friends voice.

"I don't know what to do!" She said as she ran her fingers through her long sandy colored hair. "I overheard Tobias talking tonight. Cissa... they've found the Longbottom's!"

"Oh no." She breathed.

"They're going to torture them for information! About the Dark Lord! Cissa, they're going to kill them!"

Narcissa's mind was racing with what to do. So many of her friends had either disappeared or been killed.

"I can't let them hurt Frank and Alice... they don't deserve it."

"Do you know where they are?"

Phaedra nodded. "That rat Pettigrew was here, too."

Narcissa couldn't hide her fury. "Siri's rotting in Azkaban because of him." She seethed. "Alright, we'll leave the boys here, maybe if we can get to them first we can get them out. Lucius just left, no doubt they have to meet up first."

Phaedra nodded. "Okay, Lolly will watch them, she'll make sure they're safe.. should anything happen."

Narcissa pretended not to hear her friend. She couldn't leave her son alone in this world.

"Be careful, Cissa." Her eyes drifted to her friends stomach, worried over what they were about to do, which was surely a death sentence.

"I'll be fine, you worry about you, I know you're not well."

"I'm well enough for this."

She tried to sound stern, and Narcissa loved her for it. The woman had nerve that was hard to break, and she knew Tobias Nott had certainly tried. Her friend was always showing up with new bruises, or a limp that she didn't have before. At least Lucius never hit her.

"Alright, let's go. Can we apparate?"

"Yes, I know where they are." Without any further thought, she called for her elf to watch their children, then with a _pop_ disappeared.

* * *

They landed in the middle of a dark forest, the sun already well hidden by the tall trees.

"We should split up." Phaedra said. "I know these are the coordinates I overheard. They must have heavy wards, if they spot us first then we can get them out of here."

Narcissa wasn't too sure about splitting up, but they both knew they were fighting the clock. The quicker they got this done the quicker they were to safety. "Alright, be quick and be quiet."

They ran off in separate directions, both looking around frantically for any flicker in their wards. Narcissa trusted her friend, so she knew that Frank and Alice were here somewhere. After walking around in several directions and feeling around with her magic, she felt them. The heavy wards that surrounded their safe house. Her heart beating fast, she began running around, hoping that one of them would show themselves. It wasn't long before she spotted Frank, alive and well, running towards her.

"Cissa?" He called.

"Frank! Thank Salazar! They're coming! They know where you are, you have to leave now!"

"What? How?"

"There's no time!" She hissed. "Get Alice and get out of here! I have to find Fay." Her frantic voice must've shown him how serious she really was.

"Alright, we'll leave. You two get the hell out of here before they find you!"

With a nod and a squeeze to his hand she ran off, hoping to find Phaedra before anyone else. She was too late.

Narcissa was at the edge of the wards when she saw them, the death eaters that were sent for the Longbottom's, and Phaedra on the ground, kneeling in pain before them. She recognized her sister's maniacal voice instantly, and suppressed a shudder. She couldn't make out what they were saying with the wards still in place, but it was obvious that they were questioning her about why she was there, and if she was a traitor to their cause. She heard crunching of leaves behind her and turned to see Frank and Alice coming up to stand next to her.

"What do we do?" Frank whispered.

"Nothing. You two leave, I'll get her out of this."

"Then you'll both die." Alice said plainly.

Narcissa swallowed the lump forming in her throat. Alice was probably right. "It's too risky. They're after you, this is your only chance."

"We'll show ourselves, cause a distraction. You grab her and disaparate." Alice said firmly.

"No-"

"Yes." Frank cut her off. "You both risked your lives to warn us, Malfoy Manor and Nott Mansion have some of the most powerful wards there is, it would've only taken minutes for them to break ours."

This was madness, they all knew it, but it was their only shot at getting out of here alive. "Alright. Ready when you are."

Frank and Alice both took deep breaths and looked at each other, then ran to the far side of their wards, out of reach but still visible, then stepped through them.

"Looking for something?" Alice taunted.

Bellatrix Lestrange looked up and cackled. "Come out to play, have we?"

Frank simply shrugged. "We're here, aren't we?"

Narcissa saw that Barry Crouch Jr. was there, along with the Lestrange brothers. This was not looking good. She looked to Fay who was still on the ground panting, but otherwise showed no indication she was hurt, she was no doubt used to it by now. Wands were raised and the fight started. Narcissa sent a patronus to Head Auror Moody, telling him to search Malfoy Manor, Nott Mansion, and the Lestrange estate. Without thinking she burst forth from the wards to try and grab her friend and get them to safety, but failed as Rabastan saw the movement and stunned her. She hit the ground just in time to see Frank and Alice bound by Bellatrix. They were all as good as dead now.

* * *

Narcissa woke up to screaming. Horrible, pain filled screaming that didn't cease. She covered her ears in a foolish attempt to block out the noise, but realized her mistake too late. They knew she had come to now.

"Well, well. How nice of your to join us... wife."

She kept her eyes closed as Lucius spoke, her stomach turning with bile and nerves.

"Come, it's time you joined in the fun." He grabbed a fist full of her hair and dragged her closer to the screaming, which stopped the moment she was thrown to the floor.

"Tell me, how was it that you knew the location of the Longbottom's?" Lucius drawled. "What was your grand plan, Narcissa?"

She wanted to shout at him, finally give him everything he deserved, but before she could speak the screaming began again. She whipped around to see three sets of bodies on the floor beside her, two screaming in pain, and one unconscious. "Stop! Stop it, now!"

"Do you want to have a turn, Cissy?" Bellatrix laughed out over the terrifying screams.

"Bella, stop!"

She let them have it a few seconds more, then dropped her wand. Her husband, Rodolphus, stopped shortly after.

"Why have you done this?" She asked her sister.

"The Dark Lord has vansished! They might have information!" She hissed.

"There was also a prophecy made." Lucius said right after. "Severus informed the Dark Lord that there were two possible children that could defeat him, the Longbottom boy being one of them."

That snake! Narcissa hoped he felt the fires if hell every time he thought of Lily now. His desire to please the Dark Lord got her killed!

"The Dark Lord is gone." She said slowly.

"Lies!" Bellatrix screamed as she raised her wand at her sister, casting the cruciatus. It was a favorite of hers and she used it often. Before long the pain became so intense that she couldn't even tell when the curse stopped, her body jerking so violently that she was still screaming even after the curse had ended.

"Thought you could sneak them away, did you? You filthy blood traitor!" Rabastan glared at her.

"And what about that one?" Rodolphus nodded towards Phaedra.

"She's mine." Tobias Nott's gravelly voice came from behind the group of death eaters torturing the them. Without warning he cast the cutting curse on her, slicing up her torso and her arms. She woke suddenly from the pain, then he immediately cast the cruciatus, her blood getting everywhere as she seized on the cold stone floor.

"No! Fay!" Narcissa tried to stand to help her, to try and stop the curse, to try and do anything, but Lucius kicked her down and cast his own curse. Soon enough she was screaming, tears soaking her dirt stained face from the intensity of it all. It finally subsided, and she looked to Fay, who looked inches away from death. She mouthed the word _Lolly_ to Narcissa, just before her own bastard of a husband cast another cruciatus.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Tobias asked once he lowered his wand.

"Do it!" She wasn't looking at him, only Narcissa.

"No!"

"Quiet!" Lucius roared. He'd held the curse so long this time Narcissa was sure she was going to die. Her bones felt like they were breaking, her skin on fire, her insides turning to acid and eating her from the inside out.

"Do it, now!" Phaedra screamed.

The moment Lucius stopped Narcissa whispered for Lolly. It was all she could manage. Frank and Alice were screaming again as well, and Narcissa looked over just in time to see Tobias Nott grin.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Phaedra was dead. Lolly apparated in and grabbed onto Narcissa like she already knew the plan. She was taken away without a single glance at anyone else. They landed upstairs in Phaedra's bedroom, where the boys were awake and waiting.

"Where to, Missus. Quickly." The little elf said as she gathered the children.

"12 Grimmauld Place. Kreacher. Blood wards." Was all she could get out before she passed out.

* * *

When Narcissa woke up she was in a warm room and a soft bed. Her body hurt, and she could barely open her eyes. Moving her aching arms she ran her hands up and down her arms and legs, making sure everything worked properly. She tried to sit up but was in such pain she laid back down in a flop.

"Missus is awake." A sweet frail voice came from the other side of the room.

"Lolly."

The little elf shuffled over and began checking her over. Everything was still so sore, especially her... "Lolly, what happened?"

"I'm sorry, Missus. Yous lost the babe."

"What? No, no." Even though she would be bringing another one of Lucius's children into the world, she already loved her. She just knew that this baby was her little girl.

"We tried, Missus. Me, and Kreacher and Missus Petunia-"

"Petunia? She's here?"

"Yes, Missus. Gave her quite the fright we did!"

Narcissa took a moment to collect herself. "I want to see her."

"Right away." Lolly left the room in search of Petunia, making Narcissa wonder how long she'd been asleep, and how long Petunia's been here. She assumed the house would be empty, Sirius hated this house.

A few moments later the door opened and a tall thin woman with wavy brown hair entered. She had on a simple dress and she surprisingly looked well put together. Narcissa thought she looked very pretty.

"Narcissa."

"You know who I am." She said as she watched her sit down in the chair next to the bed.

"I've seen pictures, Sirius always spoke so highly of you."

"How did you get in here?"

"I should be asking you that, but I figured it out." At Narcissa's questioning look she elaborated. "After Sirius's brother and father died, the house was left to him. I am a Black, so the house recognized me I guess, albeit reluctantly I'm sure. Sirius told me about blood wards, so I'm assuming that's why you were allowed to enter."

"Very impressive." Narcissa said genuinely.

"Sirius taught me a thing or two."

"I heard he's in Azkaban." She said slowly.

Petunia's face hardened. "He's innocent. Peter-"

"I know." Narcissa cut in. "Peter is a death eater. Fay..." she swallowed hard. "Phaedra and I figured it out after the Potter's were killed. I'm sorry for your loss."

"I'm basically useless, even though I'm a purebloods wife, I'm still a muggle. I can't do anything to get him out, and I have no evidence."

"I will help you. I hope you will help me, too."

Petunia nodded. "You want to stay here with your sons?"

"One is mine, the other belongs to my best friend, Phaedra. She was killed by her husband the night I was brought here."

"Lolly told me. She's a helpful little thing, unlike the monstrosity of an elf that resides here."

Narcissa gave a small chuckle. "Kreacher is definitely one of a kind. One of the many reasons Sirius hated living here. How long have you been here?"

"Since November second."

"So two months." Narcissa figured out with a nod. "And how long have I been asleep?"

"About two days. The boys are very cute, if a little shy. Harry seems to enjoy the company."

"You have Harry? Potter? He lived? Do you know if the Longbottom boy is still alive?" Narcissa fired her questions rapidly. If the boy was dead then it all was for nothing.

"Mad-Eye found Frank and Alice at Nott Mansion, thanks to an anonymous tip, but they're far from fine. The effects of the cruciatus curse were severe, I'm afraid they're metal state is very weak. Their son, Neville, he is alive and well. Living with his grandmother."

"Thank Heaven." She breathed. "Were any of them caught?"

Petunia eyed her carefully. True, Sirius told her several things about his favorite cousin, but four years changes people. "The two Lestrange brothers and your sister were caught and thrown in Azkaban. Your husband was also taken in, but from what I hear he's pleading imperious, and will likely get off scotch free."

"What?" She growled. Damn Lucius and his political connections. He deserved to rot in that hellhole just the like the rest of them. "He'll get away with it, I'm sure of it, being the well connected bastard that he his."

Petunia smiled at her. "You should rest, there isn't much we can do now, I'll fill you in on what little progress I've made later."

"Of course. Draco and Theo are alright?"

"They are well."

She sighed then. "Good."

* * *

Petunia knew that being married to a wizard did not make her a witch. She tried to tell Sirius this many times throughout their life together, but he insisted that because Lily was a witch, and a powerful one, magic lingered in her blood, too. She insisted that he was being ridiculous, and if he wanted to date a witch he should instead of wasting his time with her, but he never gave up the argument. And when the day came that she made a leaf flutter just as Lily used to, he was ecstatic. She could by no means do anything of real significance, but what she could do she did perfectly. What impressed Sirius the most though, was her skill in potions. She could brew anything just as well as Lily. She new a few charms and spells, but potions was her thing. She devoured it, learning everything she could about it. It was very similar to muggle medicine and she had culinary skills that she could use to apply her own knowledge to it and was damn good at doing it.

As she held Sirius's first wand in her hand, she knew it was a lost cause, but it was worth a shot. If she couldn't figure it out she would simply have to ask Narcissa tomorrow. She was out of ideas, and had no one else she felt she could trust. Dumbledore was perfectly happy to leave Sirius in that rotten place, and anyone else in the order would surely tell him what she was trying to do. So with a deep breath and a muttered spell, she held the wand above the sheet of parchment and prayed for a miracle.

* * *

Remus wandered around the various slums of Yorkshire. He was cold and depressed, but he didn't care. He deserved it. This was his life now. Three of his best friends dead, the other a murderer, and Marlene was dead. He had no one left. Once word had reached him that Lily and James were dead, he lost all hope of ever going back. He wasn't be there to protect them that night because of his stupid fight with Sirius and his damn wounded pride. To top it all off, it was a full moon that night, he couldn't even be there if he wanted to. Even if everything else was perfectly fine, he still wouldn't have been there. He couldn't protect anyone, it was better this way. He had to keep telling himself that.

His bones creaked due to the cold and his recovery from the full moon just the day before. A clear reminder that he's destined to be alone. Out of nowhere a blood red envelope danced in front of his face, and he recognized it immediately. A howler. Who the hell would send him a howler? He quickly grabbed it and hid in a darkened alleyway and cast a silencing charm just before the thing exploded and began yelling at him.

"REMUS LUPIN! YOU GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE RIGHT NOW! I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR YOU FOR MONTHS! DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS FOR A MUGGLE TO FIND A WIZARD?! EXTREMELY DIFFICULT! WE ARE ALL THAT'S LEFT. SO YOU GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW AND HELP ME CLEAR HIS NAME AND RAISE HARRY, WHO IS STILL ALIVE IF YOU DIDNT KNOW THAT. IF YOU THINK HARD ENOUGH YOU'LL KNOW WERE TO FIND ME, AND DONT THINK FOR ONE SECOND YOU WONT GET THESE DAMNED THINGS ON A DAILY BASIS NOW, REMUS!"

He stood in shock as he watched the letter disintegrate into pieces. Harry was alive! Was Sirius innocent? Remus himself never believed that he was a follower of Voldemort, but Sirius had been incredibly off balance in the last year or so. He at least owed it to Petunia to pay her a visit, as long as he left before the next full moon.

Three days later Remus showed up on the front step of Grimmauld Place. His clothes in tatters, his face unshaved, and he was sure he smelled like a garbage can. As soon as the door opened and he was ushered inside, he was embraced in a tight hug.

"Remus." Petunia cried. She pulled away and began smacking him with both hands. "Where. The. Hell. Have. You. Been?!"

Remus tried to cover himself as much as he could, but she was relentless.

"I've been looking for you for six months! Six months, Remus! Do you even realize how hard that is?!"

"I'm sorry, I-"

"You're sorry? Damn right you're sorry, I've been here for two months by myself, in a house that hates me! And don't even bother telling me that I'm crazy because that blasted woman on the wall tells me every day!"

Remus laughed at that. He'd heard stories of Walburga's portrait. "I am truly sorry, Petunia. I should have come back sooner, but you must know that I can't stay here. I would only put you and Harry in danger."

"That's a load of hippogriff shit, Remus."

Good Godric, how he missed this woman. She was so perfectly matched for Sirius that it made his chest ache. "How are you holding up?"

She sighed as she hung her head. "Come in. Please."

He made his way inside where she lead him through the dark and dreary house. "Love what you've done with the place."

"Oh, shut up. This house is a disaster."

They made their way into a sitting room, where he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Narcissa Malfoy and three children sitting on the floor. "Cissa." He said in surprise.

"Remus." She greeted back.

"What the hell?"

"Why don't you sit." Narcissa said as she waved her hand towards an empty chair. "We have much to discuss."

An hour later he'd learned a lot. He mourned the fate of the Longbottom's, and the death of his once friend Phaedra. He heard the story of that terrible October night and Petunia and Narcissa's suspicions on Peter. It made some sense he supposed, more so than Sirius, even though his heart had a hard time believing it. Peter was their friend. He'd learned that Narcissa was here permanently, as one of the last living Black's she claimed the house as hers, and in doing so was safe for now from Lucius. Together they were certain that they could at least get Sirius a trial, if not set free for good.

"I applaud your determination, I really do, but I'm not sure how I can help."

"You can be here." Petunia answered. "We have three boys to take care of, two of which are orphans. They need love, and you are more than capable of that. Stay here with us." She nearly begged.

"Petunia, you know I can't. I would only put you and the boys in danger-"

"I can brew it." She said quickly. "Your potion. I can brew it."

They stared at each other a moment, before Narcissa butt in. "I'm sorry, brew what?"

"Wolfsbane." Petunia answered without taking her eyes away from Remus, who was gaping at her like a fish.

"Tuni!" He chastised. She's just blurted it out like he only had acne or something equally as harmless.

"What? She would find out eventually." She said with a shrug. "I've read all the books, the potions section in this library is extensive. I can do it."

"And I can get you ingredients." Narcissa said confidently.

Remus was floored, he didn't know what he'd done to deserve this. "I deserted you." He said quietly.

"You're here now."

* * *

**November 22, 1982**

One full year later, Sirius Black was released from Azkaban. It took ten months of preparation and dismissals and nagging at the ministry to finally come up with enough evidence for him to receive the trial he should have gotten to begin with. Petunia waited outside the courtrooms, anxiously awaiting her husband. They hadn't even given her the opportunity to speak with him, or exchange letters. The first time she'd even laid eyes on him was well into his trial when he was finally called in to offer his testimony, and even then he was ushered right back out before he would even realize she was there.

The heavy door swung open and out walked Sirius Black as a free man, although no one would know it. He still wore his ratty prisoners uniform which was in tatters, his hair and mangled beard unwashed. And he smelled. Horrible.

"Sirius." She cried as she ran into his arms, the scratchy fabric of his uniform irritating her soft skin.

"Tuni." He choked. "Oh, Flower. I thought I'd never see you again."

"Shh. It's alright. You're free. We did it!" She pulled away and kissed him right on the mouth, his chapped lips feeling like heaven against hers. She had missed him so much. "Let's get you home."

"Do we have a home?"

"I'll explain it all when we get there. And after you've had a shower."

They flooed to Grimmauld Place, where he was ushered upstairs immediately to shower and groom himself properly. An hour later, dressed in fresh warm clothes he made his way back down stairs where a whole group of people he hadn't expected to see again were waiting for him. Narcissa, Remus and... three children?

Harry walked over on chubby little legs and Petunia picked him up.

"Who dis, Tuna?"

Those words tore at his heart. Harry didn't remember him. "Tuna?" he tried to mock in an attempt to his his true feelings.

"Harry sweetie, this is your Uncle Sirius. He's finally come home. Why don't you introduce him to your friends?"

"Kay." The little boy who looked exactly like James waddled over and pointed to a boy with bright blonde hair. "Dis Dayco." Then walked over to the other boy with sandy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. "Dis Tee-O."

"Phaedra." Sirius breathed. He looked exactly like her. He nodded to Narcissa, who gave him a warm smile, then looked to his old friend, Remus. Unsure of what to do or say, he stood there awkwardly.

"Padfoot." Remus rasped out.

"Moony."

And just like that it was all forgiven. The two men embraced each other tightly. "How?"

"Like I said, we have a lot to talk about." Petunia said from beside him. "Now lets get something to eat and then we'll explain everything."

Sirius smiled at his wife. "Then we'll be a proper family."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, Hogwarts!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I adore Sirius and Petunia in this story. Also, Theo and Remus have some pretty good moments, too.

Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, and Theodore Nott were all raised as brothers in a very unconventional household. Draco's mother and Theo's godmother, Narcissa Black, lived at Grimmauld Place along with Harry's aunt and uncle Sirius and Petunia Black, and their best friend, Remus Lupin. The house was always full of energy and love and madness, and no one could have asked for more. Their lives could have been very different, so they knew to be grateful for what they had.

Over the summer they'd each gotten their Hogwarts letters. Theo and Draco in June and Harry in July. So today was a very important day. Today they all went to Diagon Alley for their school supplies. The adults of the family were all very careful about taking the children out into the wizarding world. Ever since the unofficial end of the wizarding war, things had relaxed for most of them, but not for their family. Sirius went back to being and auror just long enough for the remaining death eaters to be captured, then decided to stay home with his family. After spending a year away from them in Azkaban he'd decided he'd spent enough time away. Petunia still worked in the muggle world, and had gotten her doctorate as well, now owning a practice of her own. Narcissa opened up an apothecary in Hogsmeade, with Remus running the shop. Narcissa herself stayed home with the children and Sirius most of the time, and really was more of a silent owner. It was Remus that did all of the work. She was happy to let him do it, it gave her the chance to spend time with the boys, while he felt he was contributing to the household and gave him purpose.

The flames in the living room began to glow that bright green color, meaning someone was coming through. After a moment Hagrid stepped out, nearly breaking the fireplace.

"Hello, Hagrid." Harry said brightly.

"Hello there, Harry! Gettin bigger every time I see ya I reckon!"

Harry just smiled at him, he said that all the time.

"Draco, Theodore."

"Hello, Hagrid." They said in unison.

"So, you boys are all ready to go then?" Sirius asked them.

"Yup!" Draco answered.

"Go on and get your lists, you've left them upstairs." Narcissa said to them all.

The boys raced each other up the stairs, tumbling over each other in an attempt to get to their rooms first.

"You know what to do if you see him?" Narcissa asked the moment they were out of earshot.

"Course I do. I can take care 'er them."

Narcissa nodded nervously and Sirius came over to put his arm around her shoulders.

"It's alright, Cissa. It's been years since the last really bad incident, just after the divorce became final."

"I know, I just worry."

"Just a little trip to get school supplies, nothing exciting at all." Sirius joked.

"Tell that to the boys, they've been looking forward to this all week."

"Ready!" Theo practically screamed as he came barreling down the stairs. "I... made it... first!" He huffed, his wrinkled school list clutched in his hand.

"Great Job, Theo." She drawled. "Will you be able to read that list now that you've destroyed it?"

"Of course. I'll just steal Harry's." He grinned, making Narcissa roll her eyes. Something she never would have done years ago.

"You be nice to Harry."

"I'm always nice to Harry." He said with a straight face.

"Mhm." She didn't bother to hide her smile. Out of the three boys she was sure at least Theo would be Slytherin, although from time to time she had to wonder about the other two.

"Ready!" Draco and Harry said as they raced back down the stairs.

Sirius looked over the three boys with amazement. Here were three children that under previous circumstances never would have gotten along. They all acted so much like the other, and so not at the same time. Harry was dressed in plain dark denim jeans and a sweater, while Draco was practically in a three piece suit. Theo on the other hand was a mix of both, wearing a sweater and dress shirt with black jeans.

"Alright boys, listen to Hagrid. Pay attention, and don't wander off."

"Yes, Sirius." They all chorused.

"All righ' boys. We'll floo to the Leaky Cauldron, then go from there, ya?"

They all nodded, and with a puff of smoke and a lot of shouting they were gone.

* * *

Draco loved Diagon Alley. He loved the sounds and the people and it was always a wonder whenever they went. It was such a different world to him, he would never tire of it. He wouldn't say he'd lived a sheltered life, but there were still dangers out there. He didn't know exactly what, but he'd heard it often enough growing up. The only danger that he knew of was his father, and he hoped they didn't see him today.

"Hello Hagrid! The usual, I presume?"

"Not today, Tom. I'm on official Hogwarts business. Just helping young Harry, Draco and Theo here buy school supplies."

"Bless my soul, it's Harry Potter." Tom said with excitement. Further down the bar other patrons could be heard whispering about _the Malfoy boy_ and _is that Tobias Nott's spawn? With Harry Potter?_

"I should not have said that." Hagrid said under his breath.

"Harry P-Potter!"

"Oh, Hello Professor, I didn't see you there!" Hagrid breathed in relief. "Boys, this is Professor Quirrell. He'll be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"Hello, Professor." All three boys said at once. Harry stuck out his hand, then pulled it back when the Professor shied away from him.

"F-ffacinting subject. N-not that you n-need, eh, P-potter?"

An awkward silence fell over them, no one really sure what to say.

"Well then, must be going now. Lots to buy!" Hagrid said quickly as he shoved the boys along to the closest door.

"I hate that." Harry grumbled the moment they were out the door and staring at the charmed brick wall.

"At least you're praised. Draco and I are scowled at." Theo said sadly.

"I hate that too! It's not fair."

"Calm down, Harry. No one knows anything about us, and we should keep it that way."

"Draco's right, just do yer work and ye have no problems!" Hagrid said brightly. He took out his pink umbrella and tapped a pattern against the bricks, opening them up to reveal the wonderful Diagon Alley.

"Now, what's on your list, eh? Got quills and ink, and don't forget your little bits and bobs for doing your wizardry."

"Shouldn't you know what's on the list, Hagrid?" Draco joked. "Wow!" He breathed as he ran ahead to smush his face against a glass display. "Look at it! The new Nimbus 2000!"

Harry ran over to join him, while Theo stood back with Hagrid. He never understood what the big deal was about quidditch.

"It's the fast model yet!" Harry screeched.

"Come now boys, lots to do!"

"Yes, Hagrid." They mumbled.

"Next year we can try out for the house teams, I bet Sirius will buy us one!" Harry said excitedly.

Draco smiled at him, knowing he was probably right.

They made their way to Gringott's, since Hagrid said he had some important Hogwarts business to do since he would be here. They all walked in, and Harry could barely suppress his gasp. He'd never been in here before, and these... creatures looked funny.

"Hagrid, what exactly are these things?"

"They're goblins, Harry." He answered as quietly as he could. "Clever as they come, goblins, but not the friendliest of beasts. Better stay close. You'll all have to come with me, I'm afraid. Better not tell anyone we were here."

The boys nodded, intrigued about what secret business Hagrid could be doing. Once they reached the counter Hagrid cleared his throat. "Rubeus Hagrid, here on official Hogwarts business for Professor Dumbledore." He pulled out a crumpled letter from his pocket and gave it to the head goblin, who just stared at them. Creepy. Hagrid lowered his voice. "It's about you know what, in vault, you know which."

The goblin nodded once. "Very well."

A goblin, the boys and Hagrid all piled into a single car and rode deep into the depths of the bank. Harry was amazed that all of this was right under the bank. Draco seemed completely unimpressed, he'd probably read all about it in some book. They came to a stop and the boys waited as Hagrid got out to retrieve whatever was inside the vault. They all peaked around to see what was there, but Draco wasn't sure if he was seeing things right. A small canvas looking bag? That's all that was there? He looked to Theo who shrugged, not caring in the slightest, while Harry continued to stare at it unashamed, his curiosity written all over his face.

With the trip to Gringott's being completely uneventful, Draco looked back to his list as they wandered around.

"We still need... wands." He said to them.

"A wand? Well then you want Ollivander's. Ain't no place better! Why don't you run in there and wait, I just got one more thing to do. Won't be long."

"Alright." Theo said as he ran inside, ecstatic to finally get his wand.

Harry and Draco laughed at him then ran to follow him in. They all looked around in awe, the shelves were stacked floor to ceiling with boxes of wands. They'd just begun to really look when an old man came barreling down on a wheeled ladder from the back room.

"I was wondering when I would see you boys! Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Nott."

They all nodded nervously, and grouped together like they usually did when something new happened. Sirius said it was a defensive move, but they just felt better when they were close to each other.

The man puttered around, moving from shelf to shelf looking at boxes. "It seems only yesterday that your mothers, and Mr. Potter, your mother and father were in here buying their first wands."

Draco was grateful that he didn't mention his father or Theo's, maybe this man was smarter than he looked.

He pulled out a box and handed a wand to Harry. "We'll go on, give it a wave!"

Harry waved it towards a shelf and jumped back as at least fifty boxes flew from it and landed on the floor. He put the wand down quickly.

"Apparently not." Ollivander said humbly.

Puttering around the back of the store he came back with another wand and handed it to Draco. He swished it and a vase shattered loudly on Mr. Ollivander's desk.

"Nope, no. Definitely not!"

Theo barked out a laugh and both Draco and Harry turned to swat at him.

"Shut up, wait until it's your turn." Draco laughed out.

They watched as Mr. Ollivander climbed a tall ladder and grabbed a dusty box from one of the top shelves. "Mr. Nott, perhaps this one?"

Theo gulped and took the wand. He gave it a flourish and to his surprise a soft yellow glow swirled around him.

"Ahh, very peculiar. Willow, elven inches, Thunderbird tail feather. A very powerful wand indeed, Mr. Nott."

Theo looked proud of his wand, staring at it with a goofy smile.

Mr. Ollivander disappeared into the back of the shop again, this time coming out with a box that looked shorter than Theo's. "Mr. Malfoy, give it a go."

Draco swished the wand and that same light began to glow around him.

"Wonderful! Hawthorn, ten inches, unicorn hair. Excellent choice! Unicorn hair is the hardest to turn to the Dark Arts." He said kindly, as if he sensed Draco's trepidation about what his wand meant.

Wandering into the back room again, the boys began to wonder if he got lost. When he emerged he had a completely different look on his face as he handed Harry a wand. The moment harry touched it a wind came from nowhere and a bright orange glow surrounded him.

"Are you kidding me right now?" Theo huffed to Draco, who just chuckled. They were both use to this sort of thing by now.

"Very curious."

"Sorry, Sir. But, what's curious?" Harry asked softly, almost afraid of the answer.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. It just so happens, that the Phoenix, who's tail feather resides in your wand, gave another feather. Just one other. It is curious that you should be destined for this wand, when its brother, gave you that scar. The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter. It's not always clear why, but I think it is clear that we can expect great things from you. For He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things. Terrible. But great." And with that he left the boys in the front of the shop and head to the back.

Theo looked around before he spoke. "I feel like you're the last person he should be saying 'Voldemort did great things' to."

Harry couldn't help but laugh at that, Theo had a point.

"Boys! All done, ya?"

They rushed out of the shop to show Hagrid there wands and gasped when they saw him standing there with three owl cages. "Happy birthday!"

"Hagrid!" Theo squeaked. He immediately went to the eagle owl with bright orange eyes and beautiful grey feathers. Harry chose the white snowy owl, while Draco took the barn owl with soft tan feathers, a bright white chest and large, expressive dark eyes.

"No way!" Draco shouted as he picked up his cage. "Hagrid, He's beautiful!"

"Glad you like 'em, it's not every day yer boys turn eleven, now is it?" He beamed with pride. He decided to treat them to lunch before he took them home, so they headed back to the Leaky where they ordered and chatted excitedly about their wands and their owls. He happily listened to their chatter, losing all track of time. They were just getting ready to leave when the door chimed and in walked Lucius Malfoy. Hagrid abruptly stood between him and the three boys who were still seated at the table.

"Ye got no business here, Malfoy." Hagrid said sternly.

"Don't I?" He drawled. "I believe I do. That is my son you have."

"I'm no son of yours!" Draco spat.

Lucius looked him right in the eyes and gave a small smile. "Quite the fire you have there, son. Can't seem to mask your emotions at all, can you?" He took another step forward and Draco saw Hagrid tense.

Hagrid learned forward a bit, to try and be more intimidating, while reaching into his pocket and pulled out a wrist watch that he held behind his back. The boys knew instantly what it was and slowly grabbed their cages and reached for the watch. The moment all four of them touched it, the emergency portkey activated and they were whisked away before Malfoy even knew what hit him.

They landed on the floor of Grimmauld Place in a pile of limbs and squawking birds.

"Does that hurt the owls?" Harry mumbled.

"Course not." Hagrid said as they stood. "Just be a bit dizzy for a bit, nothin' to worry about."

"Damn, I was hoping you wouldn't have to use that." Sirius said as he entered the room. "What happened?"

"Nothing much." Draco answered. "Lucius showed up just as we were finishing lunch. Hagrid got us out of there quickly."

"Did he say anything to you?"

"No."

Theo rolled his eyes. "Don't lie, Draco. He said that he had business there because Hagrid had his son, and Draco does a crap job of hiding his emotions."

"Draco-" Sirius began.

"Look I'm fine, it was nothing. I don't need to hear another _there's good apples on every tree_ speech."

Sirius watched with sad eyes and he ran up the stairs.

"Just leave him alone for now. He'll come back when he's ready." Theo said with a shrug then looked at Harry. He knew Draco, and what he needed was to talk to someone who never judged anyone. "Sirius, check out my wand!"

Sirius turned his attention to Theo, excited that they at least enjoyed most of their trip. "Yea, let's take a look."

Harry snuck off when Theo had Sirius's attention, and Hagrid was tending to their owls. He ran up the stairs as quickly as he could without altering anyone and made his way to Draco's room. He knocked twice then walked right in.

"Draco?"

"Yea?"

Harry saw him sitting on the edge of his bed, hands clasped in front of him, staring at the floor.

"Can I come in?"

"You're already in."

"Perfect." He grinned then sat down beside him. "What's your owl's name?"

"I was thinking about... Casper."

"Why Casper?" Harry asked, then he smiled. "After that movie Aunt Petunia let us watch. You've seen that so many times."

"When he flies I bet he'll look just like a ghost."

"You're probably right." Harry agreed. "I like Hedwig, I think. It sounds cool."

"Is that all you care about, being cool?" Draco said as he bumped him with his shoulder.

"People already think I'm cool, I really don't have to worry about that."

"And people think I'm evil and just waiting to join my father and betray you."

"We'll just have to show them how wrong they are then, won't we? I know you Draco."

"But no one else does. What if when we get to Hogwarts that's all people see? What if I'm in Slytherin?"

"Your mom was in Slytherin." Harry reminded him. "And she's not bad."

"I wish she would've changed my name to Black, too. I hate being a Malfoy."

"Don't say that."

"It's true!" He whined.

"I think she didn't change it so that when you do prove everyone wrong, it will remind them how stupid they were to underestimate Draco Malfoy in the first place. Anyone that speaks to you for three seconds would know that you're nothing like your father. Prove that being a Malfoy isn't a bad thing. Lucius is evil, not you. He has nothing to do with who you are, Draco."

Draco nodded. "Thanks, Harry."

"Anytime." He smiled back.

* * *

Later that night Harry and Theo snuck into Draco's room.

"Hey, Dray?"

Draco rolled over dramatically in bed. "Don't call me that, Theo."

"He's awake." He chuckled over his shoulder to Harry.

"Want some company?" Harry asked as he shut the door.

"I want some sleep." Draco pouted.

"That's nice." Theo said as he plopped onto the bed. "Move over."

"You have your own bed you know." Draco grumbled but moved aside so Theo could lay next to him. Draco pulled himself to sit against the headboard.

"Are you still nervous about tomorrow?" Harry asked as he sat on the end of the bed, his legs crossed.

"Yea." Draco admitted.

"You know that you can make it anywhere, right? It doesn't matter which house you're in." Theo said gently.

"It does to me."

"Look, any one of us could be in Slytherin." Harry said to him.

"Yea right. You? In Slytherin? Harry Potter! You're whole family was in Gryffindor."

"I don't really see how that has anything to do with it." Harry said simply. Other than Sirius, Draco's entire family was in Slytherin."

"It's just another thing that people will hold against me." Draco said sadly. "Just another thing they'll see before they really see me."

"I know you hate it, but I know how you feel, Draco." Harry tried to assure him. "Everyone sees Harry Potter, the boy who lived, before they see me. I'm nothing special, I didn't do anything. I'm just Harry."

"And I'm just Theo. The kid everyone remembers last because I'm stuck in the shadow of you two until they hear my last name and realize who my father is."

"At least your father is in Azkaban." Draco reminded him. "I wish mine was."

"Me too." Theo and Harry said at the same time.

"He can't touch you, Cissa made sure of that." Theo said firmly. "He does this nonsense to get to you, don't let him win."

Draco sighed. He knew Theo was right, his father got under his skin so easily. He needed to control that.

"Hey guys, what if we're not together? What if we all make it into a different house?" Harry wondered nervously.

"I don't think that will happen. You two idiots will be in Gryffindor. I can hold my own in Slytherin." Theo said confidently.

"Yea, for the first two days and then you'll be asking to stay with us for a night!" Harry joked.

Theo laughed at that. "Maybe. Hey, do you think Lolly is still up? She could bring us some snacks."

"Popcorn!" Draco said immediately.

"Or we could just do it ourselves." Harry said sarcastically. "Really, you two are so lazy."

"I'm gonna try it. Lolly." Theo said quickly, before Harry could yell at him some more.

Lolly popped in a second later. "Yes, master Theodore."

"Could you please bring us some popcorn?"

"And juice!" Draco added.

"Young Harry Potter?" Lolly asked.

"Ugh. Make that three popcorns."

* * *

Remus was up early, as he always was. Sunrises made him happy, so he tried to watch as many of them as possible. He had a hard time sleeping last night, his nerves and excitement for today getting the better of him. He made the coffee, just as he always did, and hid the sugar from Sirius, just as he always did. It really was his favorite time of day.

"Good morning, Remus."

"Morning, Petunia."

She walked into the kitchen in her lovely lilac silk robe and matching pajama set. Heading straight for the coffee she grabbed her favorite mug and poured some in, then added the flavored creamer she liked. She went to sit next to Remus on his left, like she always did, until he stopped her.

"I wouldn't sit there today."

"And why not?" She asked as she moved to the other side of the table and sat on his right.

"You'll see. I've planned it out perfectly." He grinned.

"It was a late night for him, and you know how grumpy he is in the mornings. He'll most likely just _accio_ the sugar instead of looking for it."

Remus's smile didn't fade. "I'm counting on it."

Curious, she smiled back at him, eager for Sirius to wake up now. It would be a good hour at least before anyone else was up. After a while Petunia grabbed some muffins and fruit for her breakfast while sharing with Remus. It was nearly two hours before anyone else came downstairs.

"Oh my goodness you're alive." Petunia gasped.

"Shut it." Narcissa grumbled as she shuffled into the kitchen.

It must be a Black family trait, Petunia thought. Cissa and Sirius always slept in whenever they could, and were both very grumpy in the mornings. She watched as Cissa made her morning tea, taking a few biscuits with her as she sat down. Another Black family trait, a sweet tooth.

"We should be waking the boys soon." Remus said to no one in particular.

"I've just checked on them, they all slept in Draco's room last night."

"Did they really?" Petunia asked, surprised. "They haven't done that in years."

"Draco is nervous about the sorting." Narcissa clarified.

"Did Sirius ever tell him that he could ask to be put into Gryffindor?" Remus asked Petunia.

"No, he didn't. He should know that if he gets sorted into Gryffindor he made it there because that's where he's meant to be, and nothing else."

They all looked to the hallway when they heard Sirius's grumbling about mornings and brightness and why the hell is the kitchen so many floors down from his bedroom.

Remus sat up a little straighter, but otherwise gave nothing away. He watched as Sirius grabbed his coffee cup from the rack on the counter, poured his coffee and absently reached for the sugar.

"Damn it, Moony." He muttered. " _Accio_." He said as he took his wand from his robe pocket and gave it a swish. The jar of sugar came flying out of the cupboard right in front of him and smacked him right in the forehead, leaving a very pissed off Sirius Black holding his face with one hand while trying to wipe off the coffee he spilled on himself with the other.

Petunia spit out her coffee right onto the table as she gasped for air between laughter. "Oh my, God! Oh, Remus that was brilliant!"

"Remus, that hurt!" Sirius whined as he sat down, still rubbing his face.

"Want me to kiss it?" He asked.

"No. Get the hell away from me." Sirius barked. "You can clean that up."

Still chuckling, Remus waved his wand and the mess from the sugar and spilled coffee disappeared.

"We should wake the boys." Narcissa said as she tried to hide her smile behind her tea cup.

"I know, it will be so quiet around the house now." Petunia answered sadly. "I won't know what to do with myself."

"You'll still have me, Tuni." Sirius said playfully.

"And what a handful you are."

"It's nearly nine, I'll go get them now. Kings Cross is always so crowded." Narcissa rose to wake the boys while Petunia left to make sure everything was packed in their trunks.

* * *

It was Remus and Petunia who escorted the boys to Kings Cross to board the Hogwarts express. Petunia had always loved seeing Lily off on the train and they thought Remus was the best choice to accompany her. Out of the four of them he was the one that was out in society the most, and people really wouldn't pay any attention to him.

"Alright, we're nearly there." Petunia said in a giddy voice. "This is the best part."

"Muggles! Muggles everywhere! Come on, let's go!"

They all turned in unison to see a short woman with bright red hair and a gaggle of red headed children following her.

"Hello, Molly." Remus greeted once he recognized her. "Is this your family?"

"Why Remus, it's been ages." Molly said as she hugged the man.

"Might I introduce you to Petunia Black, Sirius's wife. Petunia, this is Molly Weasley. Sirius and I knew her brothers."

"Oh, How wonderful to meet you."

"Likewise." She pointed to the oldest boy of the group. "This is Percy, the twins are Fred and George. This is Ron, it's his first year at Hogwarts, and then Ginny, our youngest."

"Oh, it's our boys' first year as well! Harry, Draco, and Theo."

"Hello." They all said at the same time.

"Well boys, we better be going, I wouldn't want you to miss the train." Petunia said brightly.

"Aunt Petunia, I don't see the platform." Harry said to her shyly, afraid he was missing something.

"Percy, Percy dear, why don't you show them how it's done." Molly waved her hand and the oldest Weasley boy took off straight towards the brick wall.

Harry watched in amazement as he walked right through it.

"Better do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous." Molly whispered to him. "Fred, You next!"

"He's not Fred I am!" One twin huffed.

"Honestly woman, you call yourself our mother." The other said, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry George, off you go."

The boy got ready to run to the wall then turned back and grinned. "I'm only joking, I am Fred!"

Harry giggled as he watched them both disappear.

"Alright boys, you first! We'll be right behind you!" Remus smiled.

"Good luck." The little red headed girl said to Harry.

"Thanks." He got his cart ready, then took off at a sprint right towards the wall. His eyes got wide when he made it through and saw the Hogwarts express. He was barely out of the way before Ron came barreling through, with Draco and Theo right behind him.

"Good luck to you boys, this year." Molly shouted back with a wave as she tried to catch up with her family.

"Isn't it amazing?" Petunia breathed. "Alright boys, have a good year. Don't get into any fights or duels or detentions!" She said as she hugged Harry and kissed his hair.

"Not even one?" Draco asked playfully.

"Not even one, Draco. I love you. You will do great things no matter where you are sorted, do you hear me?"

"Yes, Aunt Petunia."

While Petunia was smothering the other two boys, Remus took the opportunity to talk to Theo. He'd always been closer to Theo, mostly because Sirius and Petunia and Cissa had their hands full raising Harry and Draco. Remus thought of himself as more Theo's father than anything else.

"Are you nervous, Theo?"

"Yes. I didn't want to let Draco know, but I am. I don't want to be in Slytherin."

"You won't be, I know it."

"But how do you know?" He asked urgently.

Remus just smiled at him. "Because I knew you would ask that question. It's alright my boy, I will always love you. Always."

"I am your boy, aren't I?" He said as he hugged him around the waist.

"Yes. You are. Now go along now, make friends and do all kinds of stupid things."

Petunia and Remus switched and before they knew it the whistle was blowing to signal the train's departure.

"Alright! Get going, I love you all! Good luck!" Petunia shouted as the boys left to board the train and find a car. She waved to them the moment she saw them in the window, just as the train was leaving.

"I'm so proud of you that you didn't..." Remus looked over to see that she was wiping her eyes. "Cry."

"Oh shut up, my children are leaving, how am I supposed to not cry?" She huffed dramatically.

Remus chuckled and took her hand to apparate back to Grimmauld Place. "Let's go, Tuni."

* * *

Harry, Draco and Theo found an empty compartment and settled in. The nervous excitement of all the first years filled the train.

"Excuse me, do you mind? Everywhere else is full." The red headed boy from earlier said as he peaked in.

"Not at all." Harry said with a wave of his hand.

"Ron, right?" Draco asked him.

"Yup. Ron Weasley."

"I'm Draco. This is Theo." Draco said as he pointed to himself and then Theo.

"I'm Harry. Harry Potter." Harry said to him. Better just get it out now, he would figure it out eventually. Draco not saying their last names wouldn't do anything.

Ron's face morphed into surprise. "So it's true! Do you really have, you know, the scar?"

"Oh, Yea." Harry smirked as he lifted his messy fringe with his hand.

"Wicked!" Ron said in awe, making Harry laugh. "Draco. Draco Malfoy? My mom told me about you."

Before Draco could defend himself Ron was already rambling on.

"Said her brothers knew your mom and what not. Said they liked her. You live with your mom, yea?"

Draco nodded. This was the first time he'd heard something good about his name. "Yea. With Harry's aunt and uncl,e too. Theo as well."

"Theodore Nott." Theo clarified.

Ron shrugged, he couldn't remember hearing anything about him.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" The trolley witch asked as she pushed her cart full of sweets up to their door.

"No thanks, I'm all set." Ron said glumly as he held up a bag of... something.

Draco and Harry looked at each other and then Theo, who rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. I said I wouldn't tell."

Draco and Harry grinned then shot up out of their seats to buy whatever they could with the money Sirius gave them before they left. They nearly bought the entire trolley, and candy was spread everywhere on both of their seats.

"Berty Bott's Every Flavor Beans!" Theo said excitedly as he held up the package.

"They mean every flavor!" Ron said with a mouth full. "There's chocolate and peppermint, then there's also spinach, liver and tripe."

"Sirius used to love them, until Remus left only the bad flavors for him once." Harry said to Ron. "Hasn't touched them since! The rotten egg looks just like the popcorn one, you know."

Theo gagged and spit out the handful he just shoved into his mouth, remembering exactly why Sirius didn't eat them anymore.

"George swears he got a bogey flavored one once!"

"Hey, Ron?" Harry asked as he picked up a chocolate frog. "These aren't real frogs, are they?"

"It's just a spell."

Theo burst out in laughter. "You still believe that!"

"You were pretty convincing! I didn't think it would actually jump!"

Draco just shook his head. "Everyone knows that it's the card you want."

"You collect 'em too?! I've got about five hundred myself."

Harry opened the package and scrambled to catch the frog as it jumped out and landed on the window.

"Grab it!" Theo shouted as they all leaped to reach it, colliding into one another. They watched sadly as the frog jumped out the window.

"Aww, rotten luck. They've only got one good jump in them to begin with."

"I've got Dumbledore." Harry said as he picked up his card.

"I've got about six of him." Ron said to Harry.

"Who else do you have? Any good ones?" Draco asked.

They began an intense conversation about which cards they had and who they thought was the best witch and wizard in their collection, when a girl walked in to their compartment with crazy brown hair and huffing in exasperation. "Has anyone seen a toad?"

"A toad?" Ron questioned.

Theo, Draco and Harry looked at each other. "Neville." They groaned.

"Yes, he's apparently lost his toad. I've searched this entire train!"

"Good luck with finding Trevor, Neville's always losing him." Harry said as he blew the hair out of his face.

"Wow! You're Harry Potter!" She said when she saw his scar and sat down right next to Draco. "I'm Hermione Granger. And you all are?"

"I'm Draco." He rushed out.

"Theo."

"Um, Ron Weasley."

Hermione looked slightly disgusted with his full mouth and the fact that he barely acknowledged her. "Pleasure. Well, you better change into your robes. I expect we'll be arriving soon." She stood up and quickly made it to the door before she turned around. "You've got dirt on your nose, did you know?" She looked at Ron and pointed to her one nose. "Just there." Then turned around and left.

"I wonder what house she'll be in." Draco after she left.

Theo chuckled to himself. "Want to be in the same one, do you?"

"No." Draco said shyly.

"Whatever Draco, can't hide your emotions, remember?"

"Maybe I liked her. A bit."

"She seems mental, that one." Ron said to them, making the other boys giggle.

* * *

They heard the train whistle then quickly stuffed their candy into their pockets and rushed to get their robes on. As they exited the train they all looked around in wonder. They'd only been to Hogsmeade to visit Remus, and even then only went to the shop.

"Firs' years! Don't be shy, this way! Hurry up now! Hello, boys!"

"Hi, Hagrid!" Their voices full of excitement.

"Well come on now! Firs' years this way to the boats! Follow me!"

As they floated along to the castle Draco couldn't help but feel giddy. He was finally here at Hogwarts. The castle even more breathtaking than Sirius had described. He was able to get a boat with Theo and Hermione, while Harry, Ron and Neville took another.

"Wow it's amazing!" Hermione said in awe.

"Right?" Draco agreed. He'd never seen anything else so magical.

"Wicked!" He heard Ron say from the boat next to him. He looked over and smiled at Harry, who was staring, slack jawed.

Once they reached the other side of the lake they all climbed out with the help of Hagrid, then climbed several stairs up to the castle.

"Go on now. Professor McGonagall is waitin' for ye!" With a wink and a wave he shooed the large group of first years inside.

"More stairs?" Harry grumbled.

At the top of the staircase stood a tall, severe looking woman. She made Draco nervous, she looked like she didn't take shit from anyone.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." She said loudly and clearly. Her voice set Draco's nerves at ease, maybe she wasn't as stern as she looked. "Now, in a few moments you'll pass through these doors and join your classmates, but first you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin."

Draco and Harry exchanged a nervous glance.

"Now while you're here, your house will be like your family. You're triumphs will earn you points, any rule breaking and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup-"

"Trevor!" Neville squeaked as he spotted his frog at Professor McGonagall's feet. He looked up nervously. She did not seem impressed. "Sorry."

"The sorting ceremony will begin momentarily." She turned and walked away, leaving them at the top of the staircase to wait until they were called in.

"Neville, you should keep better track of that thing." Draco whispered in amusement.

"He keeps getting away from me." Neville mumbled.

"Give it to Harry, people always want to be around him." Theo joked.

"Hilarious, Theo. I don't attract toads you know."

"So it's true then?" A boy with a harsh voice said from beside them. A large burly kid with an equally large friend. "What they said on the train. Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts."

Harry turned to glare at Theo, who didn't look sorry he drew the attention to him.

"This is Crabbe, I'm Goyle."

Ron snickered from beside them.

"Think our names are funny do you? No need to ask who you are. Red hair, hand me down robes. You must be a Weasley. You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are better than others, Potter."

"Like who's exactly? Certainly not yours." Draco spat before he could stop himself.

Harry grabbed his elbow to settle him down before he started a fight.

"You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort." Goyle sneered at Draco and Ron as he spoke. "I can help you there."

"I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks."

Theo sucked in a breath and grinned. Before it could escalate any further, they were called into the great hall.

"We're ready for you, follow me." Professor McGonagall said with a smile.

Some of Draco's good mood had diminished, but once the heavy double doors opened and he saw the beautifully enchanted room he felt that awe again. He gazed at the ceiling, impressed with the night stars that were shining brightly.

"It's not real, the ceiling." Hermione said from beside him. "It's just bewitched to look like the night sky. I read about it in-"

"Hogwarts, A History." Draco finished.

"Yes." She smiled back at him. "You've read it?"

"It's one of Theo's favorites. He talks about it all the time."

Hermione blushed and kept the giddy smile on her face as she and Draco made their way to the front of the great hall.

"Now, before we begin, Professor Dumbledore would like to say a few words." Professor McGonagall turned her attention to a man that was standing behind the head table in purple robes and a matching hat with a long white beard.

"I have a few start of term notices I wish to announce." He spoke quietly yet with authority. "First years, please note that the dark forest is strictly forbidden to all students. Also, our care taker, Mr. Filch, has asked me to remind you that the third floor corridor, on the right hand side, is out of bounds to anyone who does not wish to die a most painful death."

Draco looked at the students around him, who all had mournful faces. "What kind of school is this?" He whispered to Harry, who looked equally as confused.

"Thank you." Professor Dumbledore sat down, looking over all the first years with a small smile.

Professor McGonagall produced a large scroll from behind her, seemingly out of thin air. "When I call your name, you shall come forth. I shall place the sorting hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses. Hermione Granger!"

The girl beside Draco took a nervous breath, then walked up the stairs and sat on the stool. He thought it seemed to take forever when he finally heard the hats raspy voice call out its decision.

"Gryffindor!"

She bounced happily off the stairs and smiled at Draco before she made her way to her house table.

"There goes that." Draco grumbled.

"You don't know that." Harry whispered harshly. Draco was always so hard on himself.

"Ronald Weasley!"

They watched as Ron sat on the stool, looking like he was about to be sick. The hat was barely on his head before it shouted "Gryffindor!"

Cheers erupted at the Gryffindor table, where they assumed the rest of the Weasley's were all sorted.

"Harry Potter!" The crowd in the great hall came to near silence except for a few whispers that the great Harry Potter was really here. Harry walked slowly up to the stool and sat down, waiting for the hats decision.

"Slytherin!"

Several gasps were heard from around the hall. Harry looked right at Draco then Theo and could easily see their shocked faces. He walked over to his new table and sat down. He'd never wished for one of the other boys to be in Slytherin, but now that he was here, he hoped he wasn't alone.

"Draco Malfoy." With a sigh he walked up the few steps to the stool. Without a doubt he would be Slytherin now. If harry was there, there was no doubt in his mind that's where he would end up. He was a Malfoy after all, and not a single Malfoy was ever anything but Slytherin.

"Ah, a Malfoy, are you? Hmm, great potential, yes. Strong willed, a great desire to prove who you are. Do you know who you are, boy?" The hat asked him.

"I'm a Malfoy."

"That you are, yes. That you are."

Draco knew his fate was sealed. He heard the hat take a breath and waited for the inevitable.

"Gryffindor!"

"What?" He breathed. Gryffindor. He was in Gryffindor. Professor McGonagall removed the hat and he saw just as many surprised faces. He looked down at Theo who looked very happy, and then Harry looked both sad and proud. It was Harry who started clapping first.

"Welcome to Gryffindor!" Ron shouted over the commotion.

"A Malfoy, Huh." Fred said to him.

"In Gryffindor." George finished.

"The sorting hat knows what it's doing, it's been its job for centuries." Hermione defended at once.

"Yea, Malfoy's alright." Ron said right after.

Draco smiled at his hopefully two new friends, then heard Theo's name being called.

"Theodore Nott!"

Draco watched anxiously as he sat there, nearly as long as Hermione.

"Ravenclaw!"

"What?!" Draco was shocked. Luckily the cheers from the Ravenclaw table next to him covered his outburst. "I can't believe we're split up. All of us."

"What do you mean?"

Draco turned to Hermione. "We all live together, ever since we were one. I didn't think it would happen that we wouldn't all be together."

"Gryffindor is the best house there is!" Ron said excitedly.

"Yea, it is." Draco smiled softly.

The welcome feast began and Draco's mouth was watering instantly at the food that appeared on the table.

"Wicked!" Ron began grabbing everything he could reach, eating a drumstick from both hands.

Draco kept sneaking glances at Theo and Harry, trying to see if they were okay, if they were talking to anyone at their table. Theo seemed to be perfectly fine and in his element, chatting away with the girl next to him and the boy across from him. When he looked at Harry he noticed that he was rubbing his scar and looking at a teacher at the head table.

"Hey, Percy, who's that teacher there? Talking to Professor Quirrell?"

"That's Professor Snape, head of Slytherin house. He teaches potions, but everyone knows it the Dark Arts that he fancies. He's been After Quirrell's job for years."

"Really? That's Severus Snape?"

"Professor Snape." Percy corrected.

Draco stared at him, too. "He's my godfather."

"And you didn't know who he was?"

"I've never met him." Draco shrugged. "What's he want with Harry?"

Hermione looked to the head table and saw that the Professor was looking at Harry, before his attention switched to them. "He doesn't look very friendly."

"He knows my father, I would watch out for him."

"He's a teacher, he can't do anything bad, right?"

Draco looked at her. "I'm not sure. I don't trust him."

"Hello! Welcome to Gryffindor!"

Draco screamed as ghost popped up from his plate.

"Hello, Sir Nicholas." Percy said with a nod.

"Do they have to do that?" Draco asked, still anxious from his scare.

Fred and George laughed at him. "Wait until you meet Peeves!"

After the feast and Draco was so full he could barely move, he got up to follow Percy to his new home. With one last look he checked for Theo and Harry, then left with his fellow Gryffindor's. He walked up what seemed like endless flights of stairs before they finally arrived to stand in front of a portrait of a woman in a flowy white dress. Percy gave the password then the whole frame swung open.

The common room was huge. Much bigger than anything he had at Grimmauld Place. Huge red chairs and couches filled the room with patterned rugs covering the floor. Mismatched tapestries covered some of the stone walls. The room had tall ceilings and huge windows with heavy red drapes. Tables full of games and other knick-knacks were in every corner. He climbed even more stairs up to his dormitory, along with the four other first year boys. He found his trunk already in front of one of the beds and sat down.

"You made it, Draco."

Draco looked up to see Neville sitting on the bed next to him. "Yea, I did." He flopped back and stared up at the covering of his four poster bed. He saw something carved into the framework and stood on the mattress for a closer look.

_Prongs was here_

Draco reached up and ran his fingers along the words. This was Harry's dad's bed. He jumped off quickly, nearly falling on his face and he scrambled over to the bed on his other side. Nothing. "Neville, move over!" Sure enough, he saw it.

_Padfoot_

"Neville, will you switch beds with me?"

"What for?"

Draco waved him up and when Neville stood beside him he saw the writing etched in the frame. "This was Sirius's bed. That one belonged to Harry's Dad. It just..."

Neville nodded. "Yea, sure."

Grateful that he understood, he jumped down to push his trunk over and then grabbed his things to change for bed. After everyone was asleep, Draco laid there for hours, looking at that single word. Harry should be in the bed next to him. He felt comforted though, knowing this was one belonged to Sirius. He should've talked to him more, he realized in hindsight. Not that the didn't now, but Sirius was always trying to get him to talk about what was going on inside his head, and it took this moment right now to see that they were so much alike. Both coming from destructive family names that expected things they were just unable to give. They'd beat the odds. When Draco finally did fall asleep, he was smiling.

* * *

Harry had no idea what to do. He didn't have Draco, he didn't have Theo, and he was alone and in Slytherin. If that wasn't enough, he was stuck with Crabbe and Goyle. Thankfully there was another boy in their year, Blaise Zabini. He wasn't that bad to talk to, he reminded him a lot of Theo. Harry hoped they could be friends, otherwise the next seven years were going to suck. He was pleasantly surprised when his room only had his name and Zabini's on the door. He liked his dorm room well enough, the windows went from floor to ceiling and he could actually see into the lake. He didn't realize that when his prefect said dungeons he would actually be under the school and below the lake. At least he didn't have to worry about thousands of stairs. The stone floors and stone walls made the room a little dark, but oddly enough the silver and green comforted him and made him feel at home. His bed was soft, as well as the plush furniture in their room. Each bed had a desk right next to it with a wingback chair. The thick heavy blankets made up for the chilly room temperature, so as soon as he was changed he snuggled in, and laid there watching the fish swim by until he fell asleep.

* * *

Theo couldn't get his brain to shut off, everything about his life had changed in the last hour that he couldn't process it all. He was happy with his house, Ravenclaw suit him just fine. Everyone seemed to be nice enough so far, and he was excited to begin his day tomorrow. He fell in love with his dormitory the moment he stepped foot in it. The huge circular room had everything he could ever want. The walls were covered nearly floor to ceiling with books, paints, oils, scrolls, and several musical instruments. The soft dark blue carpet beneath his feet felt like a cloud, at least what he assumed a cloud would feel like. Actually, a cloud would most likely feel like nothing. All a cloud was- Shaking his overactive head, he let out a deep breath. He wondered how Draco was doing, most likely having the time of his life up there in Gryffindor tower. Harry though, he was worried about Harry. Those two idiots from before were also sorted into Slytherin, which meant Harry would be rooming with them. Forcing his mind to calm down, he laid in bed for a while, going over his day until he finally felt his eyes get heavy. He hoped Harry was okay.

* * *

"Tuni." Sirius whined.

"Siri." She mocked.

Sirius continued to pout as they sat together on the small loveseat in his study. After one of the quietest dinners they'd had in a very long time, each of them retired to a different area of the house. Narcissa went to her room to read, while Remus took over the library, researching different plants that he was interested in adding to his stock at the shop. Petunia went to Sirius's office to go over some files from work and make a few notes, and Sirius followed her, like the lost puppy he was.

"Please?"

"Sirius, I don't want to miss the boys' letters. They said they would write."

"And they will, their letters will be here waiting for us when we get back. It's been ages since we've taken a ride. It's a beautiful night."

She couldn't argue with that. It was a beautiful night and she honestly couldn't remember the last time he'd taken her out on his motorbike.

"Just a quick ride."

His smile made her heart flutter. "Just a quick ride." He scooped her up and carried her bridle style out of the study, while she was shrieking the entire time.

"Sirius Black, put me down!"

He stopped at the top of the stairs. "No." Kissed her, then ran down them.

"Sirius!" She screamed, certain they would fall.

He didn't stop until they'd reached the long entry hallway that had a magically expanded closet where he kept his bike. "Ready, flower?"

"I don't know, I think I've had quite the wild ride already."

He grinned at her. "You haven't seen anything yet."

Unable to believe that after all these years he could still make her blush, she turned away and smiled as he got the bike out and wheeled it down the steps.

The street was quiet and dark, it really was the perfect night for a ride. Petunia climbed onto the bike, sitting behind him while he cast a disillusionment charm on them so they wouldn't be seen.

"Ready?" He asked as he started the bike.

"Always." With a quick kiss to his cheek she held on tight as they took off down the street, only lifting into the air when they were nearly at the intersection.

Petunia always loved flying. She felt much safer on the bike than a broom, but either way once she was in the air she loved it. Clinging to Sirius she looked around as he flew around the city, slowing down a bit once they reached the city lights. Sirius knew how much she loved to see the city lit up at night.

"Climb up front, flower."

Petunia maneuvered around him until she was sitting side saddle in front of him now, and facing him. "This was a wonderful idea, Sirius."

"After all these years you still question my brilliance." He said playfully.

"I never question your brilliance, I question your impulsiveness. Something you seemed to have passed on to Harry."

"You forget that he's James' son, too. That man was just as much of an impulsive idiot as I am."

"I miss them." She said as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"As do I. Everyday."

"I wonder how the boys are doing."

"No doubt destroying that Gryffindor dormitory." Sirius said brightly. "Come now, no sad thoughts. Enjoy this night with me."

* * *

Remus perked up when he heard the screeching of an owl at the window. Seeing Theo's owl he walked over to let the bird in, then took the letter from him and watched as he flew away. He smiled at the letter, then went downstairs to see if Cissa or Sirius and Petunia received letters as well. If they didn't he would read his later before bed. When he reached the first floor Cissa was already sitting in the living room.

"Did you get one?" She asked.

Remus nodded. "From Theo."

"Draco wrote me one, I've just taken the one from Hedwig as well."

"Did you? Are they not home?"

"I'm assuming they went for a ride. Didn't you hear her squealing like a bloody mandrake earlier? I heard them leave but haven't heard them return."

Remus just smiled. He assumed they were off to do other things when he heard the ruckus they were causing. "I suppose we should wait for them. Care to bet on who was sorted where?"

"Remus Lupin you are a terrible influence." Narcissa grinned back at him.

"And somehow no one's ever figured that out."

"Ten galleons. Theo's in Slytherin, Draco and Harry in Gryffindor."

"Ten galleons. Theo's a Ravenclaw."

They both turned to the entryway when they heard the laughter. "We've got letters!" Remus called out.

"Oh! Damn it, Sirius I told you!" Petunia scolded as she ran down the hallway.

"You blame me for everything!" He hollered back. "Siri, one more circle around. Siri, let's stop here. That's not me talking to myself, my dear."

"If you two are done bickering." Remus drawled.

"We're never done." Sirius smirked. "Where are the letters?"

"Wait! We're betting on where they were sorted!"

"Remus! You've corrupted Cissa!"

The man gave Petunia a wink. "Oh, Fine. I think Theo and Draco are in Ravenclaw, and Harry's in Gryffindor."

Sirius plopped down next to his wife on the couch while Remus and Cissa sat in the chairs by the fire. "Well, I think Harry's in Gryffindor, and Theo and Draco are in Slytherin."

"Ten galleons is the bet." Remus said to them as he opened Theo's letter.

"You're on." Sirius smiled as he took Harry's letter from Cissa.

" _Dear Moony._ " Remus read aloud. " _I've had the most exciting day! I won't tell you about Draco and Harry, as I know they're writing their own letters. I've been sorted into Ravenclaw! The tower is amazing! I can see most of the grounds from my window! There's shelves full of everything you can possibly dream of to inspire creativity. I know I'm going to love it here. So far everyone's been really nice, at the welcome feast I talked to a girl named Padma, and a boy named Anthony. I liked them well enough. I'm hoping I like all of my classes, I'm a little nervous about potions. Please don't tell that to Cissa or Aunt Tuni._ " Remus looked up from his letter and smiled.

"It's like we've taught them nothing." Petunia laughed out. "Harry's a lost cause, too."

Remus went back to the letter in his hands. " _I better get to sleep, tomorrow is a big day. Send everyone my love, Theo._ Well, how about that. Ravenclaw. Looks like the two of you owe Tuni and me some galleons."

"Draco's next!" Cissa said quickly as she ripped open the letter. " _Hello, mom. It's been a busy day, I'm sorry my letter will be short. I've been sorted into Gryffindor! I can't believe it, mom. I made it. Neville is here too, so that's nice. The rooms are nothing like I expected here, I like them a lot. Red everywhere though, I'll have to get used to that. Oh, before I forget, Professor Snape was giving Harry strange looks, I didn't like it. I'm worried about how potions is going to be. He seems like a bitter man. I better get to bed, I love you. Tell everyone else too. Draco._ Pay up, you two."

"After I read Harry's letter!" Sirius beamed with pride. _"Hello everyone, since I know you'll be sharing these letters. I'm not sure whose letter you'll read first, I hope you're not disappointed. I've been sorted into Slytherin. It was quite the shock for everyone I think, including me. I'm not really sure what to do. The rooms are really nice at least, if only a little cold. My roommate, Blaise Zabini seems alright. Two other boys were sorted into Slytherin too, Crabbe and Goyle. Sorry if I just gave away Theo and Draco's news, but they're not with me. Sirius, I'm not sure if it means anything, but it scared me because it's never happened before. Professor Snape was at the head table staring at me, and when I looked up... my scar began to hurt. What does that mean? I look forward to your response, I love you all. Harry._ "

Sirius stared at the letter before looking up to see everyone's reaction. "Slytherin."

"It's not a bad house to be in." Cissa said quickly.

"No, of course not." Petunia agreed.

"It was just... unexpected." Remus said with a nod.

"Right." Sirius nodded back. "Right."

"Well, you have to write him back and tell him how proud you are of him." Petunia said as she grabbed his hand.

"What about Snape?" Remus's asked, looking to Narcissa.

"He did fancy himself in love with Lily. Harry is her son."

"And he looks exactly like James." Sirius added. "With Harry being Slytherin at least Snivellus can't take points from his own house without looking like an ass."

"But what would make his scar hurt? I don't understand." Petunia asked the group.

"I have no idea." Remus answered honestly. This worried him, too. "It's never bothered him before, I will have to research curse scars and see if anything turns up."

"Cissa, do you know the parents of these boys Harry's with?" Sirius asked her.

"Yes." She nodded. "They're older men, brutes really. Bullies I can guarantee. Crabbe Sr. was always the muscle that stood behind the brains. Goyle Sr. is a large man too, but he at least had half a brain. They're both irritating beyond belief with their superiority complex."

"Wonderful." Remus said with a roll of his eyes.

"We'll all write them individual letters." Cissa said as she stood. "I think I'll do that now."

"Us, too." Sirius and stood as well, the bet forgotten. He held his hand out for his wife who took it and wrapped herself around him.

Once they were in their room Sirius threw himself onto the bed.

"He will be fine." Petunia said as she sat next to him.

"Right."

"Do you doubt him?"

"No, but I do worry about him. He's surrounded by death eater's kids, Tuni. We can't protect him from here."

"No, but you can guide him as much as you can, and encourage him when he needs it, which might be a lot. Maybe later on this week we could send that boy he rooms with a package, too. I don't recognize the name. Zambini, was it?"

"Zabini. I wonder if his mother is Bianca. If so that makes him husband number..." Sirius closed his eyes as he tried to think. "Two's kid? Something like that."

"How many times has this woman been married?"

"Six, seven. Nine. I don't really know, love. A lot. I think you would call her a gold digger."

"Oh, one of those." She smiled. "What did you think of Draco's letter?"

Sirius smiled. Genuinely smiled. "He reminds me of me."

"Me too. I think in time, he'll realize that as well."

Sirius rolled over to face her. "You're a wonderful woman. I hope all of our kids find wives just like you."

"Well unless they meet someone with a muggle sister that will be hard to do." She joked.

"I mean it. I don't know what I ever did to deserve you. You've always stood by me, never doubted me once. I want them to have what we have."

"They will, in time. But right now they are eleven."

Sirius kissed her with a smile on his face. "And you're smart, too."

* * *

Draco woke the next morning at the sound of Neville's ridiculous toad croaking. The rest of the dorm must've heard it too, since they were all stirring from their beds. The Irish one, Seamus, smacked Neville with a pillow.

"Hey!" Neville whined as he rolled over.

"Rise and shine!" Seamus shouted before he ran back to change his clothes before Neville could smack him.

Twenty minutes later the boys went down to breakfast as a group.

"Hey, Neville, do you think I should tell Harry?"

"Tell Harry what?" Ron asked.

"About the bed. Harry's Dad carved his name into the frame, I don't want to upset him though."

"I wouldn't right away, we'll see how he's doing so far." Neville said, which Ron agreed with.

They all sat at the Gryffindor table, and Draco saw Theo and that girl he sat next to yesterday talking at the Ravenclaw table. When Theo was excited he couldn't sleep, so Draco knew that he'd been in the great hall first thing this morning. He waved to him, and Theo waved and smiled back, then went back to talking to his friend.

Draco had just started in on his cereal and toast when he saw Harry walk in with that dark skinned boy beside him. They seemed to argue a bit about where to sit, and eventually Harry left and made his way to the Gryffindor table, the boy soon followed him.

"Hey guys, this is Blaise. He's my roommate."

"Blaise Zabini." He said as regally as he could.

"I'm Draco Malfoy, this is Ron." He said pointing to the redhead across from him. He went around the table and stopped at Neville, who was right beside him.

"Hey guys!" Theo said as he ran over and nearly knocked Draco off the bench when he sat down.

"Blaise, this is my other brother, Theo."

"Theodore Nott. Who are you?"

"I'm Blaise. I room with Harry." He said, a touch annoyed at Theo's tone.

"Don't mind him, he takes some getting used to." Harry grumbled.

"Hey, Harry, how are you? Everything good?" Theo asked him, his concern showing.

"Alright so far. It's just Blaise and I, so-"

"What?" Theo and Draco asked at the same time.

"In our room, it's just the two of us. Do you guys have more?"

"Yea, all of us room together." Draco said as he waved a finger around the table.

"Same here." Theo nodded.

"Huh. I wonder why?"

"My mom said that it's to create alliances." Blaise said to the group. "Solid friendships that you can rely on later on in life."

"We can do that too!" Seamus shouted.

Blaise just shrugged. "Or maybe it's just to keep out assholes you don't want to be stuck with."

Draco barked out a laugh. "I like you."

"What's your schedule like?" Theo asked.

They exchanged schedules, all while Draco kept glancing at the door.

"If you're looking for you girlfriend she was already here and left." Theo said with a grin.

"Girlfriend?" Ron asked with his face scrunched up before he realized who he was talking about. "Wait, you liked her?"

"I just met her yesterday! She seemed nice."

"She seemed bossy." Ron corrected.

"Then she's perfect for our Draco." Harry grinned.

"Shut up. All of you." He grumbled as he went back to his cereal.

No one missed how he stopped looking at the door.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Draco liked that first year Gryffindor's all had classes together. It meant that he would be with friends all the time and if he ever had questions on homework he didn't have to wonder who to ask. He could also have study partners and wouldn't have to deal with anyone he didn't know or like. After lunch he made his way to Transfiguration, which was absolutely fascinating. Harry and Ron were late to that class, of course. Draco would have scolded then himself had Professor McGonagall not done an absolutely superb job.

Next was potions, which he was dreading. Gryffindor and Slytherin were in the same slot for that class too, so at least Draco could keep an eye on how Snape treated Harry. He readied his things and sat in between Ron and Hermione and waited patiently for their Professor to arrive. Harry was on her other side, and Blaise next to him. With a blur of black robes Snape swooped into the class and began speaking as if he was bored and they were stupid. It irritated Draco more than it should have.

"There will be no wand waving, or silly incantations in this class." He drawled on. "As such, I don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion making. However, for those select few..." His eyes turned to Draco, looking completely unimpressed. "Who possess the predisposition, I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensure the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame and brew glory and even put a stopper in death."

Draco was almost annoyed with himself that he was so interested in what the Professor had to say. He did make potions seem very exciting. It would certainly put a satisfied smile on his face when he shocked the hell out of his Professor when he turned in a perfect potion.

"Then again, maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts in the possession of abilities so formidable that you feel comfortable enough to not pay attention!"

Hermione elbowed Harry and he looked up suddenly. Snape was staring right at him.

"Mr. Potter. Our new celebrity. Tell me, what would I get if I added powered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Hermione's hand shot up on the air, but Snape ignored her.

"You don't know?"

"No, Sir."

"Pity. Clearly, fame isn't everything." He said harshly.

"Clearly, Hermione knows. Seems a pity not to ask her. "Harry shot back.

Draco smiled, he couldn't help it.

Snape however, looked furious. Draco watched as he walked over and stood right in front of Harry. "Put your hand down you silly girl. For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion that is known as the drought of the living dead. Why aren't you all copying this down?" He barked at the rest do the class. "Five points will be taken from Slytherin for your fellow classmate's inability to prepare."

"So five points should be awarded to Gryffindor then, right Professor? Since Hermione knew the answer even though you refused to call on her."

Snape glared at Draco. "Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for your cheek." He snapped.

Hermione looked like she was ready to scream at him, but Draco didn't care. He couldn't let Harry take all the heat from this wretched man. He'd be writing to his mother about this.

* * *

The next day Draco was very excited for, it was to be their first flying lesson. It was his last class of the day, and he couldn't wait.

"Eye of rabbit, harp string hum, turn this water into rum."

"Does he seriously think he can turn that water into rum?" Draco asked Hermione.

"He actually managed to make tea yesterday, before-" They both looked up once they heard the explosion.

"He blew it up?"

"Yes." She coughed as she tried to swipe the smoke away from the table.

"Mail's here!" Ron said from across the table as he looked up to the swarm of owls overhead.

Draco was sure he'd at least get a letter from his mother, so he watched while dozens of owls dropped letters and packages onto the tables.

"Hey look!" Dean said brightly. "Neville's got a remembrall."

"I've read about those!" Hermione said immediately.

"The only problem is, I can't member what I've forgotten!"

Draco laughed as he tore open one of his letters, when the daily prophet that was delivered to Ron caught his eye. "Do you mind?" He asked as he held up the paper. Ron shook his head so Draco read the headline. "It says here that someone broke into Gringott's."

"That's impossible!"

Draco thought so, too. "Hagrid said there was no place safer, except for Hogwarts." He looked up and spotted Harry across the way, reading his own letter. "Harry!" He waved him over and waited until he got there.

"What?"

"Listen to this. Believed to be the work of dark wizards or witches unknown, Gringott's goblins, while acknowledging the breach, insist that nothing was taken as the vault in question number 7-1-3 had in fact been emptied earlier that same day."

"No way, that's the vault that Hagrid went to." Harry said to them. "What do you think was in that bag?"

"No idea. I wonder who else knows what it could be." Draco asked no one in particular.

"Strange timing, wouldn't you say?" Hermione asked.

"I guess." Ron said as he shrugged then went back to his letter and his breakfast.

The three of them looked at each other before reading their own letters, silently acknowledging that they would talk about this later.

* * *

"Good afternoon, class."

"Good afternoon, Madam Hooch." The class chorused. "Welcome to your first flying lesson. Well, what are you waiting for? Everyone step up to the left side of their broomstick, and say _up_."

Draco smiled to himself when his broom shot up into his hand. He saw that Harry's did as well and shared his smiled with him. Ron and Hermione he noticed, were having trouble. He thought Ron would do just fine, they'd had several conversations about quidditch and he seemed to really enjoy the sport. He couldn't contain his laugh when Ron's broom finally left the ground only to smack him right in the face.

"Shut up, Draco."

"Think you can handle flying on that thing? Wouldn't want it to get the best of you."

"I can fly!" Ron protested playfully.

Before Draco could make a smart comment about it, Neville was in the air and looking terrified.

"Neville!" Draco said harshly. "Get down!"

"I can't! Whoa!"

"Mr. Longbottom!" Madam Hooch yelled, but it was no use. Neville was out of control and quickly gaining altitude.

"He's gonna hurt himself!" Ron said as he watched Neville try his best to bring his broom back down to the ground.

"Oh no!" Hermione gasped as Neville crashed right into the castle wall, getting stuck on a spear from one of the statues. They all went running when his robe ripped and he landed on the ground with a thud.

"Neville!" Draco and Harry yelled as they reached him.

"Out of the way!" Madam Hooch pushed her way through the students to reach Neville's side. "Oh dear, that's a broken wrist. Everyone stay put while I take Mr. Longbottom to the hospital wing. If I see even a single broom in the air, you'll be kicked out of Hogwarts faster than you can say quidditch."

"I hope he's okay."

"He'll be fine." Draco said to Hermione. "Theo broke his arm once when Sirius tried to teach us to fly his motorbike."

Harry laughed at that. "He has awful balance, barely made it off the ground."

"Aunt Petunia was livid." Draco smirked. Then he saw Goyle pick up Neville's remembrall. The thing must've fell out of his robes when he fell. "Give it to me, Goyle." Draco said as he walked over to the larger boy.

"No. I think I'll leave it somewhere else for Longbottom to find." He grinned as he mounted his broom and took off.

Draco was just about to mount his own broom when someone pulled at his arm.

"Draco, don't. You heard Madam Hooch." Hermione hissed.

"What's the matter, Malfoy?" Goyle taunted. "Living with those filthy blood traitors make you weak?"

"Shut your mouth, Goyle!" Harry shouted from beside Hermione, who had taken hold of his arm as well.

"Harry! No way! Weren't you listening?!"

Harry yanked his arm free and took off.

"What an idiot."

Draco watched as Harry chased after Goyle, then speed off once he threw Neville's remembrall.

"He's going to get expelled!" Hermione huffed beside him.

Draco had to agree with her, the idiot was flying passed all sorts of windows, someone was bound to see him. That would be a fun letter back home. Thankfully Harry landed before Madam Hooch had returned and they all went running.

"Harry!" Draco yelled once he was close enough.

"I got it!" Harry held up the remembrall and smiled like a fool, then looked passed Draco and his smile vanished.

"Mr. Potter." Madam Hooch said sternly. "You will wait for me in my office until class is finished."

"Yes, Ma'am." He handed her his broom and with a sad look to Draco he walked back towards the castle.

As soon as their flying practice was over Draco, Ron and Hermione went inside to wait for Harry. Her office wasn't far from the great hall, and when Draco spotted Theo he waved.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Waiting for Harry to get expelled." Draco said bluntly.

"What?"

"He was stupid and took off after Goyle during our flying lesson." Hermione butt in.

"He can really fly though!" Ron said, either oblivious to Hermione's seething stare or just didn't care.

"That's beside the point, Ronald! He was caught by Madam Hooch!"

"Well that's perfect. We haven't even been here a month." Theo groaned. "Now what?"

"He's inside with Madam Hooch right now." Draco pointed to the door across the hall.

Theo waited with them, since his classes were done for the day as well. When the door opened they all tensed, expecting to see a heart broken Harry. Instead, Harry looked ridiculously happy, and walked out ahead of some older Slytherin boy and Madam Hooch.

"Harry! What happened? What's going on? Are you expelled?" Theo rambled on.

"Relax, no I'm not expelled. I'll explain on the way. Come on."

"Who was that boy?" Draco asked him as they began walking.

"Adrian Pucey. He's captain of the Slytherin quidditch team."

"Wait, Fred and George are beaters for Gryffindor, I thought the Slytherin team captain was Marcus Flint?" Ron asked.

Harry shook his head. "He was captain, I guess his marks were so bad they took captain away from him. If he fails this year he'll be off the team. Anyway, Madam Hooch saw me flying and went and got him and now I'm the new seeker for Slytherin!"

"What?!" Draco shouted at the same time that Ron cheered.

"No way! A seeker! That's great! You must be the youngest seeker in-"

"In a century!" Harry finished excitedly.

"You're on the quidditch team!" Draco barked.

Theo pulled Hermione back. "This is going to get ugly, really quickly."

Hermione just looked confused as she watched the two of them argue. "Why?"

"Because Draco's jealous. It's true that he doesn't handle emotions well."

"Isn't that great?!" Harry shouted.

Draco thought it was the exact opposite of great. "First years aren't allowed on the team!"

"Madam Hooch is a Slytherin alumni and said that she's been trying to put together a good team that won't cheat and will play fairly. She saw me from the window and was impressed with the way I caught that ball. I guess they made an exception for me." He finished with a shrug.

"Oh, right. For the _Great Harry Potter_." Draco spat.

Harry looked at him with hurt eyes and a shocked face. "No, why would you say that?"

"Exceptions are always made for you!"

"You know that I don't like-"

"When it doesn't benefit you! Clearly you've got no problem with it now!" He shot back. Before Harry could say anything more, Draco ran off.

Harry stared after him. "Why is he so upset? I thought he'd be happy for me."

"He will be." Theo assured him. "Just give him time. You know how he is, always talks before he thinks. Nice job, Harry. You'll be a great seeker."

Harry smiled weakly. "Thanks, Theo."

* * *

"Moony!" Sirius yelled as he ran through the house. "Where the hell are you?"

"Sirius, what are you on about?" Narcissa asked as she stormed down the stairs.

"Harry sent a letter! It's the best news! Where is he?"

"Most likely at the shop. Normal people work during the day. And if it's the best news shouldn't you wait for Tuni?"

"Cissa!" He pouted.

"Fine, don't wait. It's you that will be on the receiving end of her scorn then."

Sirius knew all about that. The summer Theo broke his arm his wife didn't speak to him for nearly two weeks. She had specifically told him not to take the boys out on a ride, and as usual he didn't listen. Other than his time in Azkaban, it was the longest period of time in their marriage that she ever went without speaking to him. After twelve days of the silent treatment, he was on his knees begging for forgiveness.

"I'll wait." He said quickly, making Narcissa smirk.

Four very long, very miserable hours later Petunia arrived home.

"Tuni! Thank Godric you're finally here!"

"Siri, what's wrong?" Her voice full of concern.

"Nothing! I've got a letter from Harry, and I waited patiently all day for you to come home, so-"

Petunia let out a very unladylike snort. "Sirius Black you are anything but patient."

"Well now I can floo Moony and bother him to come home." He ran to the floo and threw in some floo powder. "Remus!" He waited all of three seconds before opening his mouth to shout again.

"Sirius, stop it!" Petunia scolded. "He might be with a customer." She looked at Narcissa, who she spotted on the corner reading a book while scribbling some notes. "Has he been like this all day?"

Cissa glanced at the clock on the mantel. "Most of it, yes."

"What the bloody hell do you want, Sirius?" Remus barked out.

"Come home now, I've got a letter from Harry and I am not above reading it without you! I've waited all damn day!"

Remus sighed, but everyone knew he was smiling. "Give me ten minutes." Without another word he left, knowing Sirius would argue.

"He's got three minutes." Sirius said as he stared at the clock.

"Oh, for the love of god, Sirius. Calm down." Petunia scolded.

They all looked up when the screeching of an owl at the window distracted them.

"Oh, that's Casper!" Narcissa cooed.

"You'll have to wait your turn!" Sirius grumbled. Sure enough, with barely a minute to spare, Remus flooed home. "Cutting it close, don't you think?"

Remus smirked and went to sit in the chair beside Narcissa. "I waited as long as I could."

Narcissa smiled back at him. "You're terrible, Remus."

"Okay, listen up!" Sirius nearly shouted. _"Dear Sirius, better get everyone for this news, because it's big! I've been invited to play on the Slytherin quidditch team as their new seeker! I can't believe it, I'm so excited! Madam Hooch was impressed with my flying skills and the next thing I knew I was meeting with the team captain and I'm on the team! I start practice this weekend! His name is Adrian Pucey, he seems like a good captain so far. Sirius, I just can't believe it. Me, a first year! Madam Hooch said I'm the youngest seeker in a century! Alright, I better be off before I explode, dinner will be starting soon and I haven't done my homework yet. Love you all, Harry._ "

Sirius looked up and beamed at everyone. "A seeker! As a first year! Can you believe it?!"

"That is wonderful news." Petunia said slowly, "However..."

"I'm sure Draco is very upset by it." Narcissa finished as she held up the letter from Draco.

"No, he's certainly happy for him. This is excellent!"

"It is excellent. I'm impressed that Harry's made it on the team." Cissa said genuinely. "But Draco is surely mad about it." She opened up the letter and unfolded the parchment. " _Dear mom, you're not going to believe this! Harry was showing off in our first flying lesson and foolishly flew around like an idiot and instead of getting reprimanded the jerk makes it onto the stupid quidditch team! Waited outside Madam Hooch's office, expecting him to be expelled and instead he's rewarded! Sometimes I really hate his name. Things just seem to happen to him just because of it! I'm just over it. I'm sorry, I just had to tell someone. I'm so upset. I don't even want to see him right now. We usually share meals together, maybe I'll just skip dinner and do my homework. No doubt he'll be late because he hasn't done his yet. Send my love to everyone, I love you, Draco._ "

Sirius visibly deflated. "Well then."

"I'll write to him tonight and try to smooth it over as best I can." Narcissa said as she folded the letter back up. "He's jealous, that's all it is."

"Very jealous." Remus agreed. "He'll got over it. I'll write to Theo as well, hopefully he can get them together somehow and they can all talk it out."

"Harry knows to leave him alone for a while." Petunia said. "Tell Theo to give it a day or two."

"So, I shouldn't buy him a broom?" Sirius said sadly. "This is a big deal."

"Of course it is." Narcissa said proudly. "Get the boy a broom, Draco will just have to get over it. Next year when he tries out and if he makes it he can have a broom, too."

"You're the best, Cissa." Sirius grinned. "Will it upset Draco even more, though?"

"Oh, I'm sure of it." Remus aid with a nod. "The first game is always in November. Get the broom, but perhaps wait until this is all settled. Then Draco can share the excitement."

"You're the best, Moony."

"And you're ridiculous." Petunia said as she stood. "I'm going to change, then write Harry and tell him how proud I am of him."

"Sirius batted his lashes at his wife. "You're the best, Tuni."

* * *

Harry sat next to Blaise and stared at the Gryffindor table. "It's been a week, how long to do think he'll be mad at me?"

Blaise looked over and shrugged. "I don't have any brothers or sisters. I have no idea. Why don't you just try to talk to him again?"

"Because every time I try he walks away and won't listen to me."

Blaise stared at the Gryffindor table, too. He'd heard stories from his mother about the Malfoy's. His mother liked to align herself with powerful people, and spoke highly of Draco's father, since he was more influential than Draco's mother. Blaise had met Lucius Malfoy, he didn't really like him. He did like Draco, though. And Harry, surprisingly enough. He'd heard stories about _The Chosen One_ , too. Everything he'd heard about both boys so far seemed to be the exact opposite of who they really were. "I think you should try again. You're just going to sit here and be miserable otherwise."

Harry sighed but got up anyway and made his way to the Gryffindor table. He just knew this wouldn't go well. "Hey, Draco? Can we talk? Please?"

Draco froze and for a moment Harry thought he would say yes. Instead, he just glared at him as he got up and walked out of the great hall.

"I've tried to talk to him." Hermione said as Harry just stood there, watching Draco walk away. "He's just so..."

"Stubborn." Harry finished. "I know."

"How about you come with us to Gryffindor tower?" Ron suggested. "He can't run away there."

"I'll lock the door!" Neville said with a grin. "He's been whiny all week!"

"I don't know-"

"Come on." Hermione tugged on his arm as she stood and dragged him out of the hall, with Ron following.

"I told Draco she was bossy." Ron whispered.

They'd climbed only three flights of stairs before Harry was huffing about it. "How many more?"

"A lot. Let's go!" Hermione said, annoyed. "The staircases-"

The entire staircase shifted and began to move in the opposite direction.

"What's going on?!" Harry yelled as he clung to the railing.

"The staircases change!" Hermione yelled back.

Once they stopped Harry ran to the landing. "Bloody hell, is that necessary?"

"Let's go this way." Ron said as he walked towards a door and opened it. He led them into a creepy dark corridor. "Does anyone feel like we shouldn't be here?"

"We're not supposed to be here! This is the third floor! It's forbidden."

"The one that will cause us to die a most painful death?" Harry asked. "Great. I'll be going then." He turned around but stopped quickly when he heard the meow of a cat. "It's Flich's cat!"

"Run!" Ron screamed and took off the other way.

They ran all the way down the corridor and came to a locked door. Ron banged on it loudly to try and open it, but couldn't. "It's locked! We're done for!"

"Oh, move over!" Hermione drew her wand and aimed at the door. "Alohamora!"

"Alohamora?"

Hermione turned to Ron, exasperated. "Standard book of spells, chapter seven. I think Filch is gone." She said as she let out a breath of relief.

"He probably thinks this door is locked." Ron guessed.

"It was locked."

"And for good reason." Harry said quietly.

Hermione and Ron turned in question and saw what Harry meant. A huge three headed dog stood before them, growling with jaws dripping, ready to attack. They ran screaming from the room, only locking the door just in time. They ran as fast as they could, with Harry following them, completely forgetting that he wanted to talk to Draco until they reached Gryffindor tower.

"What do they think they're doing?!" Ron huffed after he gave the password and walked into their common room. "Keeping a thing like that in a school?"

"You don't use your eyes, do you?" Hermione scolded as they walked up the steps to their dormitories. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

"I wasn't looking at its feet! I was a bit preoccupied with its heads. Or maybe you didn't notice! There were three!"

Harry wondered if they always bickered like this, and how Draco could possibly stay friends with the both of them if so.

"It was standing on a trap door, which means it wasn't there by accident, it's guarding something."

"Guarding something?" Harry asked, speaking for the first time.

"That right. Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to bed. Before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed. Or worse, expelled." She turned and opened her door and left them standing there. Like idiots.

"Come on, Draco's this way." Ron's annoyed voice breaking the silence. "She really needs to sort out her priorities." He mumbled as he opened the door.

Harry walked in slowly, nervous that Draco would just yell at him and kick him out.

"Hey, mate. You've got a visitor!" Ron said as he yanked on Harry's elbow and threw him into the room. Ron and Neville bolted out the door and locked it before Draco could even realize what was happening.

"Before you start in, this wasn't my idea. At all." Harry said as he held up his hands.

Draco snorted in disbelief that he didn't even feel. He knew Harry would never try something like this. Harry always seemed to know when to give Draco space versus when he really wanted to talk. Theo on the other hand, this was exactly the kind of thing Theo would do.

"Was this Theo's idea?"

"No, well, I don't think so. Ron's the one that mentioned it to me, I just followed him up here. Nearly got killed, but whatever."

"What are you talking about, Harry?" Draco sighed.

"You know that third floor corridor we're not allowed to go into?" Harry asked as he sat down on the bed closest to Draco's. "Well, we went in by mistake. Why in the bloody hell would staircases change?"

Draco grinned at that. "It's a pain, isn't it?"

"Very. Anyway, there's a Cerberus hidden there. We saw it, Ron, Hermione and me."

"What?" Draco sat up and looked at him. "Are you sure?"

"Do I look that stupid?"

"Don't make me answer that." Draco smiled.

Harry smiled back. "Yes, I'm sure. Hermione said she saw a trap door, like it's guarding something."

"She sees everything! When are we going, then?"

Harry just stared, slack jawed. "Beg your pardon? Again?"

"Yes, I want to see it."

"Then go yourself. I've just told you where it is."

"Harry, aren't you the least bit interested in what could be down that trap door?"

"Not really. Whatever it is a damn three headed dog is guarding it!"

"Fine then. I'll go by myself." Draco said smugly.

Harry groaned. "You know I can't let you do that."

"You just told me to do exactly that. Make up your mind, Harry."

Harry felt like pulling his hair out. "Why do you have to be so difficult all the time?! Do you think I wanted to find a stupid murder dog today? Do you think I'm always getting into this nonsense on purpose?!"

"No." Draco answered quietly. "No, I don't."

"Then why are you so mad at me? I can't remember the last time you didn't talk to me for this long."

"We were seven. You thought it would be funny to hide the chocolate frogs I got for my birthday, then Theo found them and ate them."

Harry winced. "I'm still sorry about that."

Draco chuckled. "You didn't even remember until now."

"I can still be sorry. I really am sorry, Draco." He said sincerely.

"I know, Harry. I'm sorry, too. I was jealous you get to fly and play quidditch and I didn't mean anything I said."

"Not even a little bit?" Harry wondered.

"Well, maybe a little bit." Draco's eyes wandered to the bed frame, then back to Harry. "Look at this."

Draco stood up and climbed onto the bed Harry was sitting on and pointed to something on the frame. Harry's eyes got wide when he saw his father's nickname carved into the wood.

"This was my dad's?"

"Yea. The one that I have belonged to Sirius."

"Really?" Harry got up and looked at Draco's bed, and sure enough he saw the word _Padfoot_. "That's really something."

"Yea, I thought so, too. I wasn't sure if I should tell you. I didn't want it to make you sad."

Harry went back over to his father's bed and gazed at the letters. "No, I'm not sad. Slytherin is not that bad. I really like Blaise."

"He seems alright. I'm glad you have a friend there."

Harry looked at Draco. "I'm glad you're here, even if I'm not. This is where you belong, you know that, right?"

Draco just shrugged, but couldn't keep them smile from his face.

"I better go. Ron and Neville will surely want their room back soon. Where are your other roommates?"

"Dean and Seamus? Who knows? Most likely with Fred and George somewhere blowing something up."

Harry laughed at that. "Are we good?"

Draco nodded. "We're good, Harry. Good night. I'll sit at Slytherin tomorrow."

"Okay. Good night, Draco." With a small wave he got up and left Draco's room, to head back to his own.

* * *

The closer Halloween got the more concerned Draco became about Harry and Theo. This would be his first year without the family they had left to take their mind offs of the day Harry's parents died and Theo's mom beingmurdered by his own father. Draco had asked Robert Hilliard, a Ravenclaw prefect, who he would have to get permission from fro Theo stay in the Gryffindor rooms with him. This turned out to be a brilliant move, since Hilliard was rather gifted at transfiguration and could easily transfigure some furniture into beds for him. As long as they snuck him in, of course. Everyone knew how much of a rule follower Percy was. He told Harry their plan on Halloween morning and Harry asked if Blaise could come too, so he wouldn't be stuck in Slytherin alone.

With their plan set, everyone felt much better. Theo knew his mother died in November, but he'd always grieved with everyone else at Halloween, instead of carrying the misery for another three weeks. Draco was happy that Harry and Theo wouldn't be alone and it would be the first time they would all really be together since making it to Hogwarts. Dean and Seamus were in charge of bringing snacks and candy back to their dormitory after the Halloween feast, then they could have some fun. Before lunch they had transfiguration, a class Draco really enjoyed. Today they were trying to make feathers levitate. Draco was sitting next to Ron, with Hermione on Ron's other side and Harry and Blaise in the row right across from him. His feather quivered in midair for a few seconds before it fell back down to the table.

"Don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" Professor Flintwick said to the class.

Beside Draco, Ron was having an awful time getting his feather to do anything, and was getting very annoyed by it.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron would mutter, right before flailing his wand at his feather.

"Stop, stop! You're going to take someone's eye out!" Hermione said as she grabbed his hand. "Besides, you're saying it wrong, it's levi-o-sa, not leviosaah."

"Fine then! If you're so brilliant why don't you do it?" He challenged.

Hermione turned back to her own feather and held her wand delicately as she spoke the incantation clearly. Her feather rose higher and higher into the air and Draco beamed at how smug she looked. She earned the right to look that way, no one else in the class could do it.

"Well done, Miss Granger!"

Just as Draco was about to congratulate her, an explosion from his other side made him jump. Seamus had blown up his feather. How he managed to do that, Draco had no idea.

"I think they're going to need another feather over there Professor." Harry giggled as he smirked at Draco's soot covered face.

After class they headed to lunch, deciding to cut across the courtyard.

"It's levi-o-sa, not leviosaah!" Ron complained. "She's a night mare! Honestly, it's no wonder she hasn't got any friends!"

Draco saw a mess of wild hair run passed them, and realized that Hermione had heard everything Ron said.

"I think she heard you." Harry stated, obviously,

"Hermione, wait!" Draco called out, but she didn't stop. He turned to glare at Ron. "Why did you do that?"

"Do what? I didn't know she was there!"

"Just leave her alone for now, give her some time." Harry suggested.

With a heavy sigh Draco followed them to lunch, and didn't see Hermione for the rest of the day.

Theo, Harry and Blaise all sat at the Gryffindor table for the Halloween feast. They didn't even get odd looks anymore, since the boys had taken to sitting wherever they pleased so often no one bothered to care.

"Where do you think she is?" Draco asked the group while he glanced at Hermione's empty seat.

"Oh!" Theo said just before he took a huge bite of carrot cake. Draco waited not so patiently for the prick, since he knew he did it on purpose. "Padma told me that Parvati told her that she's been in the girl's bathroom all afternoon, crying."

Draco turned to Ron, who at least at the manners to look guilty. "You should go find her and apologize."

Ron didn't say anything, but nodded, so Draco let it go for now.

"So, are your dormitories all decked out in red? Red walls, red pillows, red floors, with stuffed lions everywhere?" Theo chuckled.

"Harry told me that the first years have a full sized lion in their room! With an ugly dead bird hanging out of its mouth." Blaise told him.

Theo looked at Harry. "Is that true?"

"No you idiot! Are you sure you're a Ravenclaw?" Harry couldn't help but laugh at Theo's scowl, that he could barely hold before laughing.

"Troll!"

Everyone turned to see Professor Quirrell running into the great hall and headed straight towards the head table.

"Troll in the dungeon! Troll in the dungeon! Thought you ought to know." He breathed just before he fainted and hit the floor.

There was a moment of shocked silence before the chaos. All at once students were screaming and running towards the door.

"Silence!" Dumbledore's voice carried through the hall. "If everyone would please not panic. Now, prefects will lead their houses back to their dormitories. Teachers, will follow me to the dungeons."

The boys followed Percy out of the hall and down the hallway that lead to the staircases.

"Ron, wait." Draco hissed. "What about Hermione?"

Harry looked at Neville. "Take Theo and Blaise up to the tower, we'll be right there."

Neville nodded quickly then ran to catch up with the others, with Theo and Blaise right behind him.

"Come on, this way." Ron said as they took off in the opposite direction.

"What's that?" Harry asked when he saw a huge shadow moving down the end of the hallway.

"It must be the troll! It's headed right for the bathroom!" Ron shouted.

"Of course it is!" Draco grumbled as he ran faster. He heard Hermione scream just as they rounded the corner. "Let's go!"

They burst through the door just in time to see the troll swing its heavy club at the bathroom stalls.

"Hermione, move!" Harry yelled as he picked up whatever debris he could lift and began throwing it at the huge creature before him. Ron and Draco followed suit until Draco saw Hermione climb out of the demolished bathroom stalls and try to get under the bank of sinks. Unfortunately, the troll saw this, too.

"Hermione!" He yelled as he dove to cover her. "Come on!" He tried to drag her away quickly, and barely missed being clobbered by the troll.

"Draco, you idiot!" Harry huffed. Now they had two people to save.

"Help us!" Hermione screamed. They were sitting ducks, their only chance of running away was a distraction.

Draco covered Hermione again as the troll took another swing.

Harry took out his wand but instead of using it he grabbed the trolls club and flung himself on his shoulders, then jammed his wand up its nose.

"Eww!" Ron said with a disgusted face.

Draco was just as confused. What the hell, Harry?

"Do something!" Harry shouted at Ron as the troll reached up and grabbed Harry by the leg, swinging him around.

"What?" Ron looked around cluelessly.

"Anything!" Draco yelled back.

Ron took out his own wand and took a deep breath.

"Swish and flick!" Hermione encouraged. "You can do this!"

"Wingardium Leviosa!" He aimed his wand at the trolls club and they all watched in shock that it actually worked, the club floating weightlessly in the air.

"It worked!" Ron shouted. He lost his concentration though, and the club came smashing down right on the trolls head. It dropped Harry and he scrambled away just before the troll hit the floor.

"Is it dead?" Hermione whispered.

"I don't think so, just knocked out." Draco said back as he climbed out from under the sink. He held out his hand for Hermione and pulled her up.

Harry pulled his wand from the troll's nose and Draco wanted to gag at the snot that clung to it. He watched in pure disgust as Harry just wiped it on his robes. "Harry, that's gross!"

Before Draco could say anymore Professors McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell ran into the bathroom.

"Oh my goodness! What- Explain yourselves!" She asked as she looked right at Harry and Ron.

"Well, we-"

"It's my fault, Professor." Hermione said quickly, cutting Harry off.

"Miss Granger?" McGonagall asked, the shock in her voice matching her expression.

"I went looking for the troll. I read about them and thought I could handle it, but I was wrong. If Harry, Ron and Draco hadn't come and found me, I'd probably be dead."

"Be that as it may, it was an extremely foolish thing to do. I would have expected more rational behavior on your part and I am very disappointed in you, Miss Granger." She said sternly. "Five points will be taken from Gryffindor, for you serious lack of judgement."

Draco was surprised that she covered for them, since it was their fault she'd been alone in here in the first place. He knew what lying to her professor and their head of house would make her feel.

"And as for you gentlemen, I just hope you realize how fortunate you are. Not many first year students could take on a full grown mountain troll, and live to tell the tale. Five points will be awarded to each of you." She looked between Ron and Harry then Draco. "For sheer dumb luck!"

Draco didn't like the way that Professor Snape was looking at him, eyeing him like he knew him at all. Draco hadn't said anything more in his potions classed other than to answer a question that was directed at him, and never interacted with the man outside of class.

"P-perhaps you ought to go. M-might wake up." Professor Quirrell laughed nervously as he ushered them out of the bathroom.

Surprisingly, they were left to themselves while they all made their way up to Gryffindor tower. No one spoke until they were safely inside their common room.

"Good of you to get us out of trouble like that." Harry said shyly.

"Mind you, we did save her life." Ron said to him.

"Mind you." Draco almost growled. "She might not have needed saving if you hadn't insulted her."

"What are friends for?" Ron said with a sheepish smile at Hermione.

Draco watched her smile back, and knew that from this moment on, these were his people.

"So let me get this straight." Theo said as he waved a rope of licorice in the air. "You went to rescue your girlfriend-"

"She's not-"

"And got awarded points for being reckless idiots?!"

"Pretty much, yea!" Ron agreed with a face full of candy.

Theo looked over at Blaise. "Why didn't we go along? Maybe we could've saved the day."

"Because we're not reckless idiots?"

Theo grinned. "Excellent point."

"That's not all that happened." Harry said, his voice low and serious. "Something was funny about Professor Snape."

"He was giving me this odd look." Draco agreed.

"Did you see his bloody leg?" Harry asked Draco.

"What? No?"

Harry looked around the room. "I'm guessing that Snape let the troll in as a diversion, so he could try and get past that... thing."

"What thing?" Neville asked.

"I don't think telling more reckless Gryffindor's is the greatest idea." Theo said to Harry.

"It's just Dean and Seamus." Neville said with a smile. "Unless you don't want anything getting blown up, then you'd best keep it to yourself." He joked.

Seamus stood abruptly when everyone laughed. "I don't appreciate the insinuation, Longbottom! Besides, if anyone cared to notice... my eyebrows have completely grown back!"

"Well he's touchy." Theo said after he stormed out of the room.

"Only because everything he touches really does blow up." Dean smiled. "I'll go talk to him."

Theo looked to Harry as soon as Dean left. "Spill it."

"Okay, you know the third floor corridor? The one that we're not supposed to go near?"

Neville nodded. "Because it will kill us? Yea, Wh- Wait. Harry, really?"

"It was an accident! And completely Draco's fault!"

"My fault?! How-"

"Okay, before you two get going, tell him the rest." Theo scolded. Harry and Draco could argue about nothing for hours.

"Anyway." Harry drastically emphasized. "There's a three headed dog in that corridor, behind a locked door and we think it's guarding something. I think Snape let the troll in so he could make his way to that trap door, and take whatever is hidden down there. His leg was all bloody and scraped up, so I don't think he made it."

Neville stared at his friends. "What do you think is down there?"

"Whatever Hagrid took from that vault at Gringott's that day." Draco answered.

"You really think that whatever that is was so important that maybe Dumbledore knew someone would try to steal it?" Blaise asked.

"Hagrid did say that there was no place safer than Hogwarts." Harry answered.

"Because there's stupid three headed dogs in third floor corridors." Ron grumbled.

"Somethings just not right about all of this." Theo mostly said to himself.

"You better watch it, the both of you." Neville said seriously. "What does your family have to say about all this?"

Draco and Harry looked guilty, while Theo just shrugged. "Remus says that Snape has always been sneaky and nosy."

"You told him?" Harry squeaked. He was certain he'd get a letter from Sirius now.

"I write him letters, yes. I didn't tell him about your ridiculous antics, you're welcome. I have potions with Snape, too. He doesn't pay nearly as much attention to me as he does you two, but I'm used to that." He winked at Harry while Draco just rolled his eyes.

"Can't you just leave it alone?" Blaise asked Harry. "Snape is already watching you, and Draco."

"Not like we can do anything about it anyway." Harry sighed in defeat.

"Trouble always finds you, Harry Potter." Theo joked. "There's no way he'll leave it alone."

Theo nearly fell over when Harry smacked him with his pillow.

"It wasn't me." Harry said innocently. He barely had time to cover his face before Theo threw a pillow at him, starting a fight with laughter and feathers going everywhere.

Dean and Seamus returned just in time to join in, with everyone shouting and not even knowing who they were hitting with their pillows.

Hours later, Draco stared at Harry while Harry stared at the ceiling. Theo was already asleep, thankfully. "Are you alright, Harry?"

Pulled out of his thoughts, he looked over at Draco. "Yea." He whispered back. Everyone else was asleep, and he didn't want to wake them. "I just miss them. I don't even know them."

"Of course you do. Sirius tells you stories all the time."

"I wish I didn't just have stories."

"I know." Draco said sadly.

They stayed silent for a while, just looking at the ceiling together. "Then I wouldn't have met you or Theo though, so there is that."

Draco smiled at him. "Yea, there is that."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an important one!

**Chapter 5**

"Does anyone want to study for that potions quiz tonight?" Theo asked the Gryffindor table as he ate his breakfast.

"Can't." Harry answered as he pushed his food around on his plate. "It's the last quidditch practice before the game this Saturday."

"I'll study with you." Hermione said quickly.

"Me too." Blaise said after.

"Cool." Theo smiled. "Are you nervous, Harry?"

"A bit."

"He's terrified." Draco smiled. "You're gonna be great."

Harry let out a deep breath. "You think so?"

Just then the great hall was filled with owls. "I know so." Draco said as he spotted the huge package heading for their table.

"What's this?" Harry's eyes were wide as the stared at the long box before him.

"Open it and see." Theo said, without even bothering to look up.

Harry ripped it open and nearly fell over. "It's..."

"Harry!" Ron's shocked voice cut in. "Do you know what this is?!"

Harry's eyes snapped up at Draco then Theo, both of whom were smiling. "You knew."

"Sirius wrote to us, yes." Draco said to him. "A nimbus two thousand."

"Congratulations, Harry." Theo smiled at him. "Even though you can win without the fancy broom, you know."

"Thanks, guys." Harry breathed.

A few seats down Oliver Wood, the captain for Gryffindor was losing his mind. Fred and George stared at it in awe, while Ron kept inching his hand closer to try and touch it.

"Go on, try it out." Draco urged.

"Later. I might not come back down." Harry joked.

"Harry, you really should try and eat something. A bit of toast, maybe?" Blaise's concerned voice broke the silence at the table.

"Ron's, right. You're going to need your strength today." Draco agreed.

"I'm just not hungry." Harry mumbled.

"Good luck today, Potter."

Harry whipped around to see Professor Snape standing behind him, his classic sneer already on his face.

"Then again, now that you've proven yourself against a troll a little game of quidditch should be easy work for you."

Everyone stayed quiet while he walked away.

"He can't even give a compliment without it sounding like an insult." Theo muttered sarcastically.

"Forget him. He's just trying to make you nervous." Ron said with a glare in Snape's direction. "You're gonna be great. Even if the game is against Gryffindor."

"Yea, should you be sitting at our table right now, mate?" Dean joked.

"Gonna kick me out, then?" Harry grinned back.

"Nah. Draco will pout if I do."

"Shut up, Dean." Draco laughed out.

"He's not wrong." Theo said just before Draco shoved him with his shoulder.

Harry met his team mates down at the quidditch pitch just before the game started. As they waited, Adrian looked over at him.

"Scared, Harry?" The team captain and chaser asked.

"A little." His nervousness showing in his voice.

"Me too." Adrian admitted.

"Why's that?"

"This is my first game as captain, have to give a good impression, don't I?"

"Anyone's better than Flint." Terrance Higgs, the team's keeper, said from behind them.

Marcus Flint, the other chaser on the team, just growled at them all.

"Not much of a confidence booster, Higgs." Adrian winked at his friend. "Ready, everyone? Remember, we're playing fair." He emphasized his last words, shooting a glance at Flint, and then Miles Bletchley, one of the team's beaters.

The curtains opened and all at once they mounted their brooms and flew out onto the pitch, Harry being amazed by the crowd's cheers.

Theo and Blaise sat in the Gryffindor section with Draco and the rest of their friends. Draco was completely torn on who to cheer for. He wanted Harry to do well, but they were playing against Gryffindor. He decided he would just cheer for the people he knew instead. The players all flew out onto the pitch and circled around Madam Hooch, who stood in the center of the field.

"There he is!" Blaise shouted with a wide smile.

"He looks so small." Theo said to him.

"That's because he is small."

"Our Harry'll do just fine." Hagrid said from behind them.

Draco looked around in awe at the full stands of students. Sirius had taken them to a handful of professional quidditch games, but this just felt different. The excitement felt more alive. Maybe it was all of the House pride. He looked back at the players, just as the game began. Once the quafffle was released the madness started. Players were zooming around the field and Draco was giddy with adrenaline. Angelina Johnson scored the first goal of the game, and the Gryffindor stands cheered loudly. Draco yelled and clapped along with them, the energy infectious. He looked to find Harry and turned just in time to see Harry nearly get knocked of his broom by a bludger.

"He needs to pay attention!" Draco scolded. He watched as Harry casually looked around for the snitch, not really moving too much. The boos from the crowd pulled him out of his instead study of Harry.

"What happened?"

"Flint. He's got the quaffle!" Ron shouted, even though they were right next to each other. "He's gonna score!"

"No way, Wood can block him!" Seamus yelled loudly.

Sure enough, Flint didn't make the goal.

"Those Slytherin's don't play by the rules!" Dean's irritated voice yelled.

Wood blocked another goal from Flint. Everyone gasped when Flint grabbed the beaters bat from Bletchley and sent a bludger flying right at Wood.

"Is he alright?" Hermione gasped.

Laughter could be heard from the Slytherin stands, and Draco sneered in their direction. "I hope so."

With the goal posts completely open, Slytherin kept scoring points. Angelina caught the quaffle and made a run for the goal, but was pinned between two Slytherin's that caused her to fall. The score was now twenty to sixty, with Slytherin winning. Draco was watching the Slytherin's, wondering why the hell nothing was being said about their rough play, when Hermione grabbed his arm.

"Draco, look!" She pointed to Harry and Draco saw him flying erratically.

"What's going on? What's he doing?" Theo wondered.

Hermione grabbed Seamus's binoculars so she could watch Harry. "I don't know! It looks like he's out of control!" She moved around to see if she could see anything else.

"It's Snape!" She hissed. "He must be jinxing the broom."

"Jinxing the broom?" Ron asked nervously. "What do we do?"

She threw the binoculars at Ron. "Leave it to me." She said as she made her way through the crowds of people.

"What's she doing?" Ron asked Draco.

"I have no idea!" He looked back at Harry. "He's not going to be able to hold on much longer!"

"Harry!" Theo shouted as Harry's broom spun upside down, leaving Harry to dangle in the air.

"Come on, Hermione!" Draco breathed. He took the binoculars from Ron and looked over at the teacher's box. "You're not going to believe what she did!" Draco grinned like a fool.

"What?" Theo, Ron and Blaise shouted.

"She sent him on fire!"

"She did not." Theo breathed. Draco handed him the binoculars and sure enough, he saw the teachers scrambling to put out the fire that was set to Snape's robes. "She did!"

They all cheered loudly when Harry was able to pull himself back onto his broom, and take off towards the snitch.

Alicia Spinnet, the Gryffindor seeker, raced around the pitch neck and neck with Harry. They were flying so close that they bumped into each other several times.

"What the hell is he doing?" Blaise asked as he watched Harry climb onto his broom to stand up, like he was going to jump for the snitch midair.

"Being reckless." Theo grumbled. "Someone explain to me why this idiot isn't in Gryffindor, again?"

Sure enough, Harry jumped off his broom and landed face first onto the ground, rolling a few times before he sat up.

"He looks like he's gonna be sick!" Hagrid said to them.

"He's got the snitch!" Neville shouted. "He caught it with his mouth!"

"Slytherin wins!" Lee Jordan announced and boos and groans were heard all around them, but Draco just smiled.

The following day was Sunday, and the three boys walked down to Hagrid's hut with him for tea. They hated Hagrid's tea, but they loved him, so they suffered through it.

"Nonsense." Hagrid told them. "Why would Snape put a curse on Harry's broom?"

"Who knows?" Harry shrugged. "Why did Snape try to get passed that three headed dog on Halloween?"

"Who told you about Fluffy?"

"Fluffy? That thing has a name?" Theo asked in disbelief.

"Course he's got a name, he's mine." Hagrid said roughly. "I bought from an Irish feller I met down at the pub last year. So I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the-"

"Yes?" Draco said sweetly.

"I shouldn't have said that. No more questions! Don't ask any more questions. That's top secret, that is."

"But Hagrid!" Harry whined. "Whatever Fluffy is guarding, Snape is trying to steal it. I know it."

"Codswallop. Professor Snape is a Hogwarts teacher."

"Hogwarts teacher or not." Theo retorted. "We know a spell when we see one. I've read all about them. Hermione, too."

"Now you listen to me, all three to you." Hagrid said sternly. "Yer meddling in things that ought not be meddled in. It's dangerous. What that dog is guarding is strictly between Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel."

"Nicolas Flamel?" Theo asked.

"I shouldn't have said that. I should not have said that." Hagrid grumbled as he walked away. "I should not have said that."

"Who is Nicolas Flamel?" Harry asked other two boys.

Draco looked confused as well, and Theo just shrugged.

"You're the Ravenclaw. Shouldn't you be smart?" Harry teased.

"I'll ask Draco's girlfriend, she'll know." Theo said with a snicker.

"She's not-"

"Yea, we know. Whatever Draco." Theo laughed out as he ran towards Hagrid's.

"She's not!" Draco yelled as he ran to keep up with him.

Harry watched them for a second before running to catch up with them, a smile on his face.

November went by in a haze of studies, classes and laughter. The three boys forgot all about Nicolas Flamel and Fluffy, and since the Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw quidditch match was rather uneventful, they forgot all about Snape, other than his regular brooding in potions. Quidditch wasn't to start back up again until February, so Harry had more free time to make friends, which turned out to be largely Gryffindor's.

* * *

The day they were to head back home for the Christmas holidays, Draco sat with Ron playing wizard's chess in the great hall, waiting for the announcement that they could head to the train. Theo sat next to Ron, while Harry sat next to Draco. Hermione walked up just as a Ron's queen destroyed Draco's knight.

"That's totally barbaric!"

"That's wizard's chess." Ron said proudly. "I see you've packed."

"I see you haven't." She chastised.

"Have so." Draco defended. "All our things are there." He pointed to the huge pile behind them in front of the fireplace. "Ron's coming with us for the holiday!"

"Oh?"

"Change of plans. My parents decided to go to Romania, to visit my brother Charlie. He's studying dragons there."

"So Ron's coming with us to our house." Harry said to her.

"What about your bothers?" Hermione asked.

"They've decided to stay at Hogwarts. Imagine all the trouble they could get into! All the things they'll find with no one else around!" Ron said to her.

"Speaking of finding things." Hermione said sweetly. "Have you found anything on Flamel?"

Theo shook his head. "No, but I haven't really tried. Mid-terms have taken all my time."

Hermione nodded in understanding. "Maybe your family will know something?"

"I'll ask my mom." Draco said he moved a chess piece. "She's brilliant at potions."

Harry nodded. "My aunt, too."

"Well you better hurry up, or you're going to miss the train."

"She's right." Draco said. "We'll finish this another time."

"You're only saying that because you're losing." Theo grinned, then walked off with Hermione before Draco could smack him from across the table.

"You know she told me that she tried to sneak into the restriction section last week? To see if she could find anything." Draco whispered.

Ron's eyebrows rose at that. "I think we've had a bad influence on her."

"Welcome back, boys!" Petunia shouted with excitement as they made their way over to her and Remus.

The three boys went running once they heard her, with Draco and Harry colliding into her and Theo into Remus.

"Happy Christmas, boys." Remus said kindly as he hugged Theo and ruffled Harry's hair, then Draco's. "Mr. Ron Weasley, what a pleasure it is that you could join us."

"Thank you, Sir." Ron said kindly.

"We brought the car, this way boys." Petunia said to them as she led them away.

"Aunt Petunia has a really nice car." Draco said to Ron. Have you ever seen one?"

"My Dad has an old Ford Anglia he's fixed up. He keeps trying to charm it, but mom stops him every time he gets going. A bit obsessed with muggle things, my dad."

Petunia drove them home, since she was the only one that needed a driver's license. Good thing it was a short trip, since Ron couldn't keep his hands off the buttons. He'd opened the sunroof twice and nearly got them soaked from the melted snow on the roof.

"Here we are." She said as she parked the car. "Grimmauld Place."

"Wow. You live here?" Ron said in awe as he looked up at the four story building.

"Sure do." Harry grinned as he ran up the stairs.

"Harry Potter you get back here right now young man and get your trunk." Petunia scolded.

"Aunt Tuni!" He whined, but made his way back down anyway.

"She reminds me of my mom." Ron whispered to Draco, who laughed quietly.

Once the front door was opened they barely made it inside when two more people came running towards them. Cissa took both Theo and Draco in her arms and squeezed them tight, while Sirius hugged Harry.

"Pads!" Harry cried as he was engulfed in a hug.

"Oh, it's so good to have you home!" Narcissa cried.

"Mom, you're embarrassing me." Draco grumbled even though he barely tried to pull away.

"It's okay, mate. My mom does the same to us when we come back." Ron said cheerfully. "I'm Ron Weasley."

"Ronald Weasley." Sirius said as he stood tall. "How wonderful you could join us. How are your parents?"

"Fine, Sir."

"Sirius. Call me Sirius. Well, what to do first? Get you boys situated, yea?"

"Ron, dear, would you like your own room or would you like to share with Draco?" Petunia asked.

"I'm sure they'll all end up together somewhere." Remus smiled. "Put your things wherever you'd like. They boys will show you the way."

"Lolly."

"Yes, Missus." The little elf said the moment she heard Narcissa call her.

"Will you please put the boys' things in their rooms?"

"At once, Missus!"

"You have a house elf?" Ron asked as they headed for the stairs.

"Two." Harry answered. "Kreacher, who is the Black family elf, and then Lolly. Who I guess really belongs to Theo."

"She was my mother's."

"What happened to your mom, Theo?" Ron asked without thinking. The three boys stopped and looked at him. No one talked about Theo's mom, but everyone they knew already knew what happened. Harry and Draco looked at Theo, unsure if he would even answer.

"She was killed." He said softly. "My father..."

"I'm sorry." Ron said sincerely. "This girl I know, she lives just over the hill from our house, and her mom died just last year. I bet you'd like her. She's weird."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Theo asked, glad for the subject change.

"She just speaks her mind, that's all. Only I never have any idea what she's talking about." He laughed, and the tension was gone.

"Wow. Your room is huge!" Ron said as he walked into Draco's room.

Draco looked around, he supposed it was a decent size. Either that or Ron must have a really small room at his house. "Harry is just across the hall, and Theo on the right. Sirius and Petunia are upstairs and Remus and mom are on the second floor."

"Has this always been your room? My brothers move around a lot. Well, mostly just Percy. He doesn't like being on the same floor as Fred and George. They make too much noise."

Draco shook his head. "We moved to the third floor when we were like four or five. We were on separate the floors before. So, what shall we do?"

"Do you have a place to fly here?"

Draco grinned. "Not really, we'll have to wait until Aunt Petunia goes to work before we can fly. It's a secret thing we do with Sirius."

"I don't know anyone else with a family like yours."

"Me neither." Draco just shrugged. He adored his family, and never wanted it to change. "What do you want to eat? We better tell my mom now so Kreacher can make it. She's the only one he doesn't talk back to."

"Doesn't he belong to Sirius?" Ron asked.

"He does. Doesn't mean he has to listen to him though. He's not mean or anything, just grumpy. And ungodly old."

For the next four days the four boys forgot all about Nicolas Flamel, again, and anything school related. Ron even got Theo to stop studying long enough to have a snowball fight with Sirius and Remus in the park across the street. Draco loved having Ron around, he seemed to get along with everyone. He and Theo tried to teach Harry how to play chess, and he brought his chocolate frog cards to trade with Draco. He talked to Sirius for hours about his twin uncles that Ron never met, and to Remus about all the pranks he pulled in school, and told him stories of Fred and George. Narcissa and Petunia doted on them like the mother hens they were, giving the boys nearly anything they wanted while they were home.

The morning of Christmas Eve Petunia got called away to the hospital she worked at, but said she would only be gone for a few hours and would be back in plenty of time for their Christmas Eve tradition.

"Hurry back, Flower." Sirius said sweetly as he kissed his wife.

"Don't get into too much trouble with them, I meant it Siri." She warned just before she left the house.

The moment that door was shut Sirius grinned. "Who's up for a fly?"

"Yes!" Ron shouted.

Harry, Ron and Draco practically fell over each other racing up the stairs to get their brooms.

"Theo?" Sirius said with a smile. "Care to join in?"

"That alright. I think I'll just stick with Remus for a while."

Sirius nodded. "You remember what to do?"

"Lie."

Sirius ruffled his hair. "Good boy."

* * *

Petunia came home about four hours later, after stopping at the muggle grocery store to get ingredients for her favorite Christmas dessert, bread pudding. She let Kreacher make it a few times, but it just wasn't right, which pissed him off something awful, but made her laugh so it was worth it every year to watch him scowl as she took over the kitchen to make it. The house was unusually quiet, it had been chaos ever since the boys had come home. Which suited her just fine, it reminded her of when the boys were little. After she put her groceries away she went upstairs to find Remus and Theo playing a game of checkers.

"Done with chess?"

Theo looked up and smiled at her. "For now. Ron's really good. I'm sure we'll play later."

"I've played him twice." Remus said to her. "I don't know where he gets it, I've lost both times."

"Where are the others?"

"Cissa went into town, said she forgot something but I'm not sure what."

"Oh, I could have went with her, I've just come from the store." She looked over at Theo. "And the others?"

Theo tilted is head upwards. "Napping most likely."

"Did they go flying?"

"Of course they did."

Petunia took a peppermint from her pocket and handed it to him. He took it without even looking up.

"As soon as I left?"

"The second after."

She handed him another peppermint, and this time he smiled.

With Christmas Eve fully underway, Petunia and Narcissa took over the kitchen, much to Kreacher's irritation. Neville and Augusta Longbottom arrived for the Christmas Eve festivities. They were to spend the night, as they did every year so Neville could enjoy some of the Christmas magic that only family can bring. Petunia loved everything about Christmas, she could bring some of her muggle magic into the house, as she liked to call it. The bright colors and decorations and baking always meant so much to her. When Draco and Theo became a permanent part of her life, she made a promise to them to always make this time of year extra special.

Their first Christmas together was while Sirius was still in Azkaban, and she tried, she really did, but her heart wasn't in it. The following year, when he finally came home, was truly magical. She decorated every room in the house, top to bottom. Kreacher mumbled about her tasteless muggle decorations and terrible influence but she didn't care. The joy that lit up Harry, Theo and Draco's faces was worth it. What was even more special about that Christmas, was the way that Narcissa finally let go, and let herself become part of their family. Over the years Petunia and Cissa had become the best of friends, and went just as overboard as Petunia did at Christmas time. Petunia had taught her how to make Christmas cut out cookies, and they'd made them every single year since.

Now they had five boys in the kitchen helping them, with flour and frosting on every surface. Petunia insisted they do everything by hand, only because it made it that much more fun. The cleanup though, she would let Cissa use her magic for that... unless Kreacher was being extra ornery that day. With five dozen Christmas cookies made and frosted, the boys left the kitchen after they'd cleaned up so Petunia could make her bread pudding, and Narcissa could take the time to frost her cookies perfectly.

"The cookies are all made?" Sirius asked as he jumped up when he spotted the boys coming up from the kitchen.

"Yup!" Neville said brightly. "Cissa stayed behind to frost her cookies."

"She always makes beautiful ones." Augusta said as she sipped her tea by the fire.

"I think I'll go steal some." Sirius grinned as he walked away. He passed Theo and stilled him by placing a hand on his shoulder. "She doesn't suspect anything?"

"Not a thing." He said with a straight face.

Sirius pulled a peppermint from his pocket. "Good boy."

Theo grinned as he unwrapped his piece of candy and went over to sit by Remus.

"Neither of them have caught on yet?"

"They have no idea."

After dinner everyone gathered in the living room for their annual watching of _A Christmas Carol_ , and the boys all received their Christmas Eve gift.

"What is this?" Ron asked as Petunia handed him a package.

"It's tradition." Was all she said.

Ron opened up the bright red package with a huge green bow. He pulled out a pair of soft pajamas, packets of hot chocolate, peppermint fudge and a bag of other sweets, a book on charms used for flying, and a muggle board game. "Wow."

"Aunt Petunia always gives the pajamas." Harry said to him. "Sirius give the games."

"Remus gives hot chocolate." Theo said with a smile in the man's direction.

"Mom gives the sweets. I told her you liked chocolate frogs, hope that's okay." Draco said.

"And Gran always gives the books." Neville said as he held up the book he received, the standard book of spells.

"I bet Hermione can help you study." Ron said right away. "Alohamora, standard book of spells, Chapter seven." He said in a mocking voice, making Harry laugh.

"Draco's girlfriend can help you with anything." Theo said to him. "She's wicked smart."

"Draco's girlfriend?" Cissa asked. "Who's this?"

"Mom-"

"Her names Hermione." Theo said over Draco. "Gryffindor, muggleborn. She's beating everyone in grades so far."

"She's nice to me." Harry said to Cissa. "I like her."

"I'd like to be done with this conversation." Draco grumbled.

"How about you go and put your pajamas on, then we can make the hot chocolate and start the movie." Petunia suggested.

The four boys grabbed their boxes and ran up the stairs.

"Thank you for the gift." Ron said softly. "You didn't have to get me anything."

"It was no trouble at all, dear." Petunia said sweetly.

"Um, Sirius. What is... jan-ga?"

Sirius chuckled. "I love those muggle games. Your father will love it too, I'm sure. We'll play it tomorrow."

"Alright." With a smile he followed the other boys upstairs.

"Boy he's in for a shock tomorrow then, isn't he?" Cissa said with a laugh.

"The poor boy wasn't expecting gifts?" Remus said sadly.

"His parents don't have much money." Augusta said quietly. "I'm sure just the fact that you let him stay with you for the holiday was enough."

"Then tomorrow will be a great day." Sirius said as he kissed his wife's hand. He knew how much she loved Christmas, she always went above and beyond to make it extra magical for everyone.

The boys all stayed up late, having a sleep over in Draco's room, making a blanket fort with nearly every pillow and cushion they could find. Theo was the first to wake, and made his way downstairs to look at the tree. He always loved seeing the tree dressed up in bright decorations and loaded with presents.

"You're up earlier than I thought, pup." Remus said from the corner of the room. Theo was sure he was sipping on a steaming cup of hot chocolate and had eaten the cookies they'd made yesterday for breakfast. His well-worn cardigan securely wrapped around him.

Theo sat down on the other side of the small loveseat Remus was sitting at as he handed him the mug. Sure enough, it was hot chocolate. "I always like to wake up and see the tree before they demolish it. What are you reading?" He asked after he sipped the hot drink.

"A herbology book. Something new I found in Diagon, thought I might find something for the shop."

"Is it interesting?"

"Some of it." He answered with a shrug. "Unfortunately not all of it, though. Good thing it didn't cost very much, so harm done."

They sat in comfortable silence, with Remus going back to his reading and Theo gazing at the perfect Christmas tree. Their perfect moment was ruined however by someone thudding down the stairs.

Theo looked at Remus. "Draco." They said at the same time.

Draco came in and took one look at the tree. "Yes!" Then turned and ran right back up the stairs.

"Does he really expect nothing to be there?" Theo wondered aloud, then grinned. "That gives me a thought for next year."

Remus didn't even bother to hide his smile. "I'm so proud of you."

* * *

"Wake up!" Draco shouted once he reached his room. The three boys that were still asleep rolled around and grumbled. "Wake up, there's presents!"

"Of course there's presents you idiot." Harry shouted at him.

"Come on! It's Christmas, even Pads will be up early! Ron, come on!"

"I already know what my mom got me." He said as he laid back down, in hopes of falling back asleep.

"But you don't know what's in the others!"

This peaked his interest. "I've got presents?"

"Good Godric, make them shut up." Neville said as he covered his face with a pillow.

"You know he won't." Harry said as he rolled out of the fort. "Better just get up."

They walked down and met Sirius and Petunia on the stairs. Petunia looked giddy. Sirius looked grumpy, but did his best to smile.

"Is your mom up yet, Draco?" Petunia asked him.

"I'll go check!" He runaway without another word.

"You are an evil woman." Sirius grinned at his wife.

Once everyone was up they wasted no time ripping into their gifts. Ron went to the packages he recognized from his mother first. He tore it open and sure enough, found a maroon knitted sweater with a capital R on the front.

"From my mom." He said shyly as he threw it on over his pajamas Petunia had given him last night.

"Oh, that's wonderful." Petunia said warmly.

Ron smiled and looked at the other boys. "Looks like you all got one, too."

"Really?" Draco was genuinely surprised by this. He'd barely spoke to Ron's mom on the platform that day, and Harry and Theo were in different houses. "Nice!" He got up to put on the bright red sweater. Other than Ron, Neville was the only one that got a sweater that wasn't his house color. Instead, His was grey with a white N on the front. He looked over to see that Theo got a blue one, and Harry got green. They'd also been given homemade fudge.

"Look!" I've got a present from Draco's girlfriend!" Theo squealed, knowing it would irritate him. He held up the very nice quill with a bright blue feather.

"I did too!" Harry said brightly, completely oblivious to Draco's annoyance. "A whole box of chocolate frogs!"

"Same here!" Ron's voice high and giddy.

Neville looked around and smiled, then held up a gift. "Got one!"

No sense in hiding what he was doing, Draco dug through his pile of presents and found the one from Hermione. He unwrapped it carefully and opened the box. Inside he found a wooden plaque that had the Gryffindor crest made out of string art. Underneath the crest, in the most beautiful cursive he'd ever seen were the words _Never forget who you are_

"Well, what did you get?" Harry pestered.

"Nothing. It's nothing." He shoved it away quickly, hoping everyone would leave him alone about it.

Sirius saw it, though. And he loved it. He leaned over and whispered to Petunia. "We must meet this girl."

"Who's that from, Harry?" Theo asked as he held up a present wrapped in odd shiny paper. "I'm not sure, there isn't a tag on it." With a shrug he tore it open and saw that there was a note inside. "Your father left this in my possession before he died, it's time it was returned to you. Use it well."

"Clothes?" Ron asked.

"It's a cloak of some sort."

"Well go on, try it on." Neville urged.

Harry stood up and put it on. Sirius spit out his coffee. Remus choked on the cookie he was eating.

Harry looked down and gasped. "My body's gone!"

"An invisibility cloak!" Theo said with excitement. "They're really rare."

"He had it the whole time!" Sirius seemed really pleased about this.

"This really belonged to my dad?"

"Yes." Remus nodded. "It's been passed down for generations on the Potter side. I'm not even sure who the original owner was. I assumed it was lost with the old house."

"Who had it, Sirius?" Petunia asked at the same time Narcissa huffed that she still had no idea where James got a real invisibility cloak.

"Dumbledore, had to be. Imagine the things you can get into now!"

"Oh dear, maybe this wasn't a good idea after all!" Cissa said with a shake of her head, her eyes to the heavens.

With the living room now full with piles of presents and several other piles of torn up wrapping paper, they shared a lazy breakfast prepared by Lolly, since Kreacher was making their Christmas Day dinner. Ron was of course shocked at the amount of gifts he'd received. He wasn't expecting anything from Draco's family, and didn't even think that his friends would get him gifts. As they began to clean up, since Neville and Augusta had to leave soon for St. Mungo's, Narcissa quietly walked over to Draco.

"Let me see it." She said softly.

Draco looked around to see if anyone was watching, then picked up the box from Hermione and handed it to her. Narcissa opened the box gently and smiled, almost sadly. Her eyes filled with tears.

"That's wonderful, Draco."

"Yea. I feel like what I got her was insignificant now."

"What did you get her?" She asked as she handed him the gift back.

"She color codes everything. I got her notebooks for each class for her notes. She carries around rolls of parchment like you wouldn't believe. Aunt Petunia helped me."

Narcissa giggled. "I think that is a wonderful gift, and she will appreciate it very much."

* * *

The trip back to Hogwarts was a blur of noise and giddy excitement. Friends meeting up with friends again filled the atmosphere. Draco immediately found Hermione and pulled her into their compartment, thanking her profusely for her gift, which he had packed with him. She gushed over the journals, saying how she couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it herself.

Blaise made his way into their compartment, too, happy to be with friends again. "Did you get the chocolate snitches I sent you?"

"I did! Thanks! How about you? Did you get mine?"

Blaise held up the book he'd gotten from Harry, _Notable Potions Throughout History_. "So at least one of us can earn some points from Snape in potions?" He joked.

"Exactly."

Dinner went by uneventfully, most of the hall staying crowded while students caught up with their friends after the break. Excited to use the cloak, Harry, Draco and Theo decided to sneak out tonight and try to get into the restricted section. One of the first things Hermione had asked them was if they found anything, which of course they didn't. Hadn't even looked. So they all huddled under the cloak and made their way down to the library.

"I don't even know what we're looking for." Theo whispered once they made it into the restricted section. "It's not like there's going to be a book labeled _Nicolas Flamel_."

"Let's just look, so we can say we actually tried this time." Draco began to look around, looking at the books carefully. "Be sure to not touch-"

Harry picked up and book and opened it and the thing began screaming. He slammed it shut and looked at Draco.

"-anything. Really, Harry?"

"Who's there?!" Filch's voice rang through the library, heading their way.

"Get under the cloak." Harry hissed. As quickly as they could they all scrambled to cover themselves, just as Filch came into view. They tip toed around him, barely breathing in hopes that they wouldn't get caught.

Once they were out of the library the ducked into the first room they saw.

"How long should we wait?" Theo asked as he let out a relieved breath.

"Not that long. We still have to go to three separate dormitories." Draco said as he leaned against the wall.

"Hey, guys! Check this out!"

Draco and Theo followed Harry's voice deeper into the empty room.

"Look!" Harry's excited voice rang though the room. "Do you see them?"

Theo stepped up to the mirror Harry was looking at and smiled. "Yea, I do."

"Really?!"

"Yes." Theo said softly. He reached out and touched the mirror. He turned to Harry then. "What is this mirror?"

"I don't know." Harry answered as he gazed at it.

Draco stepped up behind them and gasped.

"Draco, what's wrong?" Theo asked as he turned suddenly.

Draco just stared passed them. "Do you think... does this mirror show the future?"

Theo and Harry looked at each other. "I don't see how it could." Harry said blandly. "Since my parents are dead."

"Wait, your parents? You see your parents?" Theo asked, bewildered.

Harry looked at Theo's confused face, then to Draco's terrified one. "What do you see?"

Theo answered first. "I see my mom. And Remus and me, we're all happy and... and a family."

Harry stepped in front of the mirror again. "I see both of my parents. They're standing in front of Grimmauld Place."

Draco stepped up next to Harry, his eyes never leaving the mirror. "So it doesn't show things to come?"

"What do you see, Draco?" Theo asked him, all three standing in front of the mirror now.

"Nothing. Let's go, we should be s-"

"Draco, what do you see?" Theo demanded.

"Nothing!" He yelled. "I'm leaving." He grabbed Harry's cloak and threw it on leaving the either two no choice but to follow him.

They made their way up to Gryffindor tower in complete silence. Mostly because they didn't want to get caught out of bed, but also because the tension was so thick no one really knew what to say.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Draco said once they were standing in front of the portrait of the fat lady. Luckily she was still awake, so he whispered the password then went inside.

"What do you think he saw?" Harry asked Theo.

"I have no idea. He thought he was seeing the future." Theo sighed. "Let's go, maybe he'll tell us tomorrow."

"Right."

They began their slow walk to Ravenclaw tower, then Harry made it to the dungeons by himself.

No one slept that night, all three concerned about what Draco saw.

* * *

Draco stayed quiet for the next three days. He didn't talk to anyone, he went to class, ate as little as possible, and then went back to his dormitory where the curtains around his bed stayed shut. It was nearing dinner time and Theo, Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in their usual spots at the Gryffindor table, waiting for Draco.

"Did something happen over break?" Hermione asked. "He won't even talk to me."

Theo's eyebrows rose at that. "Really?"

Hermione shook her head. "I've tried, it's like he's upset with me over something."

"It's not you, it's all him." Harry grumbled. "There's something on his mind and he won't tell any of us. It's consuming him."

Blaise walked up to the table with Neville and took their usual seats. "No luck." Neville said to the group. "I tried to ask him what was going on but he just pushed me out of the way."

Harry sighed dramatically. "I wish he would just tell us!"

"Shh, here he comes." Theo hissed at Harry, then looked over to Hermione. "Try and get him to eat something."

She nodded subtly and began to eat herself. "Hello, Draco." She greeted as he sat down.

"Hello." He mumbled.

The table sat in awkward silence, no one really knowing what to do. They just kept exchanging glances. Theo kept making faces at her, but she had no idea what to say.

"You should try the chicken, it's really good today."

"Yea, mate!" Ron said with a bright smile. "Try some!"

Draco didn't say anything, so Ron took the liberty of filling his plate. They watched carefully as he took a bite of vegetables, but mostly just pushed his food around with his fork.

"It tastes a bit like lemon pepper. My dad always made that. He-"

Draco threw his fork down loudly on the table. "You know what, I'm really not that hungry." He got up from the table and stormed off without another word.

Hermione stared at him, her mouth open in surprise. "Are you sure he's not mad at me? Everything I say seems to be wrong."

"Bet that's a new feeling for you." Ron joked.

"Shut up, Ronald. Something is wrong with him and you should be worried about your friend!"

"I am worried about him, but there's nothing I can do, is there? He doesn't want to talk."

"All we can do is be there when he does." Neville said to the group.

Blaise and Harry walked down to the Slytherin dungeons well after dinner, since they really didn't talk to anyone else in their year. Blaise didn't mind Daphne Greengrass, but she really only talked to Blaise and this other girl named Pansy Parkinson, who Harry thought was kind of pushy. They stayed in the great hall as long as they could, then left to do some homework in their own dormitory. Harry was looking down at the floor, lost in thought when Blaise elbowed him. When he looked up he saw Draco leaning against the wall.

"Draco?"

He looked up when he heard his name, but didn't move away from the wall.

"I'll see you inside, yea?" Blaise said with a nod in Draco's direction, then left them alone.

"What's going on?" Harry's voice reeking of concern.

"I need the cloak."

"Draco, no-"

"Harry, please." He begged.

"Tell me what you saw."

Draco just swallowed harshly. "I can't. Please, just this one time."

Harry covered his face with his hands and groaned. "Theo's gonna kill me."

Draco gave a sad smile. His first smile in three days. "Thanks, Harry. I will tell you, I promise."

"Well come on then." Harry grumbled as he walked up to a plain stretch of stone wall. After he'd said the password, a stone door that was concealed in the wall slid open.

"That's kind of cool." Draco said as he watched the door shut behind them. When he turned around he froze. "Whoa. This is nothing like ours."

"The exact opposite." Harry said as he watched Draco look around the dark room.

"It's cold."

"We are under ground." Harry smirked.

Draco gazed at the green lights and fancy furnishings. Everything seemed dark and cold and there for aesthetics rather than comfort.

"The common room isn't really my thing, but the dormitories are nice, come on."

They passed the stairs leading to the lower levels for the older students and stopped at the first door on their left.

"Left side is boys, right side is girls."

Harry opened the door and Draco looked around in awe. Harry was right, his room was much better than the common room. While still dark, the far wall had floor to ceiling glass windows and Draco was completely enchanted by it. Their beds looked huge, too.

"Hello, Draco." Blaise greeted from his bed.

"Blaise."

"Going to see the mirror?" He guessed as Harry dug out the invisibility cloak from his trunk.

"You told him?" Draco asked Harry.

"Yes. He's my best friend, of course I told him. I'm sure Theo told... does Theo have other friends?"

Blaise shrugged. "He likes that Padma girl, I think."

"Well whatever. If Theo has friends I'm sure he told them." He threw the cloak at Draco. "Just keep it and give it to me tomorrow."

"Thanks, Harry." He folded it up inside out and tucked it under his arm so it looked like he wasn't carrying anything, then left to go back to Gryffindor tower.

Once he made it to his common room, he looked around for Hermione. He found her in the corner by the fireplace, on the small bench that sat under the window, with an old red blanket covering her legs as she scribbled notes from a book she was reading into one of the notebooks he'd gotten her.

"Hey, Hermione." He said quietly when he was right in front of her.

"Draco." She looked up, surprised.

"Can I sit with you?"

"Um, sure. Let me just-" before she could move anything however, Draco sat on the floor with his back to the bench, his head resting on her leg.

"What's going on?" She asked him quietly.

"I'll tell you in a bit." He said as he closed his eyes. After a while she began reading again, her quill scratching on the paper made Draco feel surprisingly relaxed.

Their friends kept glancing at them, all wondering what was really going on with Draco. He'd sat there for so long, not even moving that Hermione thought he'd fallen asleep. Soon it was after curfew and the common room was beginning to clear out.

"I want you to go somewhere with me." Draco said quietly, once the room was mostly empty.

"Alright."

"Tonight. Like, right now."

"Draco, it's after curfew." She reminded him. Maybe he did fall asleep and wasn't aware of the time.

"I know." He got up and unfolded the cloak that sat beside him the entire time.

"What is that?" She hissed.

"Harry got it for Christmas. It's an invisibility cloak. I have something I want you to see."

She looked worried about breaking the rules, but she was even more worried about her friend. "Alright."

He smiled at her. "Thank you." He stood close to her and threw the cloak over the both of them.

* * *

"Where are we?" Hermione asked once Draco had removed the cloak.

"Some abandoned classroom. This way." He nodded towards the other side of the room. He slowly walked up to the mirror and took a deep breath. "Tell me what you see."

Confused, Hermione went to stand beside him and looked into the mirror. "I see myself. I'm head girl, Professor McGonagall is looking at me smiling. There's students all around congratulating me, like they're proud of me." She smiled at him, but lost it as soon as she saw his face. "What do you see?"

"Do you know anything about my family, Hermione?"

"I know that you live with Harry's aunt and uncle, and-"

"No. I mean, my blood family."

Hermione shook her head. "No, not really."

"My mom left my father when I was one, she never wanted to marry him but didn't have a choice, as her family was very strict and prejudiced. Malfoy's were known for being dark wizards, and thought it was a good match for her. When she was in Hogwarts she was secretly friends with Harry's parents, and Sirius and Remus, but after they graduated she never saw them. After she heard that Harry's parents died, she decided to run away. She and her best friend Phaedra, Theo's mom, made a plan to run away together, but they got caught I guess. She never really said what happened. My father and Theo's father hurt them both. Tortured them I'm pretty sure. Theo's mom died, and my mom nearly didn't make it. We've lived with Sirius and Petunia and Remus ever since. My mom was able to get a divorce and changed her name back to Black, but she never changed mine."

"Why not?" Hermione asked him, engrossed in his story.

"I don't know." He answered honestly. "I've always wondered why. Harry thinks it's so when I prove to the world who I am, it will remind them that a name doesn't define you."

Draco kept staring at the mirror.

"Draco, what do you see?"

He finally turned to look at her, and she could see the pain in his eyes, all over his face. "I hate him, Hermione. I hate him so much, he took people's lives. He stood there while Theo's mom died. He hurt my mom. I just know that he had something to do with Harry's parents. I hate him." Tears filled his eyes but he refused to let them fall. "I see him." He whispered. "Me, my mom and him. Standing together, like a family. His arm is around me. I'm smiling. Smiling!" He shouted. "I don't want anything from him! I don't want his approval or need his affection! Why do I see him?!"

Hermione had no idea what to do. "This mirror... it shows you what you want?"

"I don't know. Harry sees his parents. Theo sees his mom alive and Remus and they're one big happy family. I see my stupid father that I hate."

Hermione watched him struggle with what he was feeling. She wasn't sure why Draco saw his father, she didn't understand it either.

"There's nothing wrong with the family I have right now! I wouldn't change it for anything. I love the family I have now." He added desperately.

"I know you do."

"Then why do I see him?!" He shouted, unable to control it anymore.

"I really don't know, Draco." She said honestly.

"At dinner, when you began talking about your dad, I'm sorry, Hermione. I'm really sorry." And then he cried.

"Oh, Draco, it's alright. Really!" She ran over and hugged him tightly. "I was just worried about you! I'm still worried about you."

He clung to her like he'd never felt a hug before. "I can't stop thinking about it."

"Have you told anyone else?"

Draco shook his head.

"You should talk to your brothers."

"I can't." Draco sniffed as he pulled away from her, but kept his gaze away from the mirror. "I don't want what I see. They'll think that I-"

"That you are confused and need some advice on how to work through this." She cut in gently. "They will understand."

Draco just shook his head.

"Come on. We can go back to the common room and sit by the fire. I'll stay up with you."

"You don't have to."

"Even if I want to?" She asked softly.

Draco glanced at her, a crooked smile on his face. "I guess if you really want to." He tried to look back but she grabbed his arm.

"Don't."

The pull to look at the mirror was hard to resist, but Draco didn't look back as they walked towards the door.

Hermione made some tea and grabbed that blanket she liked and draped it over the both of them after Draco stoked the fire and threw some logs on. The wind whipped around the castle, making the room cold, but the fire and the warm tea soon warmed them from the inside out. With their backs to each of the arms of the couch, the sat facing each other.

"Do you see him often?" Hermione asked quietly.

"No. When I do he only taunts me, just to get a reaction. I try to ignore him but the second he says something I just can't help it and I blurt out something stupid. My mom has taken every precaution to make sure I see him as little as possible."

"When was the last time?"

"Just before school, we went shopping with Hagrid for school supplies. Before that it was just after Christmas. Neville's Gran got me a book I already had and Remus took me to exchange it."

"What does he do?"

"Nothing really. Just stands there looking important. He always makes a point to call me son though. Never lets me forget that."

Hermione sipped her tea as she thought about all of this. Lucius Malfoy was Draco's father, he couldn't change that. "Do you think that maybe... maybe you see Harry with his uncle and Theo with his father figure and maybe deep down you just want something like that?"

"I've never felt left out or anything. Sirius and Remus have always treated me like family."

"But not a son. Harry has Sirius, and Theo has Remus. And you only have your mom. It's okay to want things you don't have, Draco."

"But I don't want that with him, I don't want anything from him."

Hermione nodded. "Doesn't mean that you don't want a father."

Draco let out a deep breath. "I don't know. I've never thought about it before."

She could tell he was lost, how this ate him up inside for the last three days. She tapped his foot with hers to make him look at her. "Remember who you are."

She had no idea how much he thought of her words. "Stupid mirror."

Hermione smiled at him. "Stupid mirror."

They talked for a while longer, and when neither could keep their eyes open, they fell asleep where they were, legs tangled together.

* * *

Draco sat alone in the dark in front of that mirror. He never did give Harry back the cloak, so since he still had it, he might as well go back. He had no idea how long he sat there, staring at the image before him, wondering what the hell it all meant, when a voice came from behind him.

"Back again, Draco?"

Draco turned suddenly and stood when he saw Dumbledore standing behind him.

"I see that you, like so many before you, have discovered the delight of the Mirror of Erised. I trust by now you realize what it does." He walked slowly over to him. "Let me give you a clue. The happiest man on earth would look into the mirror, and only see himself exactly as he is."

"So then, it shows us what we want. Whatever we want."

"Yes... and no."

"It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest and most desperate desires of our hearts. But remember Draco, this mirror gives us neither knowledge nor truth. Men have wasted away in front of it, even gone mad. That is why tomorrow it will be moved to a new home. And I must ask you to not go looking for it, again."

"Sir- Professor Dumbledore. What do you see when you look into the mirror?"

"I? I see myself holding a pair of thick woolen socks."

Draco just stared at him.

"One can never have enough socks."

It was only after he returned to his room and thought back on their conversation that Draco realized Dumbledore might not have told him the truth. But to be fair, it was a rather personal question. _The mirror gives us neither knowledge nor truth_ He'd said to him. Maybe it wasn't true after all, maybe he should really think about what Hermione had said to him. He swore on everything that he was, from that point on, he would never be anything like Lucius Malfoy.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Forgetting about the Mirror of Erised proved to be easier said than done. He'd given the cloak back to Harry the very next morning, so the temptation to go looking for it was gone, but it still filled his thoughts. He'd told Harry and Theo what he saw, and also about the nightmares he was beginning to have. Going back to Malfoy Manor, living under the same roof as Lucius, his mother dead on the floor. It was his greatest fear, how could it also be his greatest desire?

"See, Dumbledore was right." Theo hissed. "That mirror is driving you mad!"

"You need something else to take your mind off all of this." Harry suggested. "Why don't you head to the library? Hermione's there, she seems pretty annoyed that we never asked about that Flannel guy."

"Flamel, Harry." Theo chastised.

"Yea, him. She'd probably like the company."

"I guess I could." Draco paused a moment. "You know, I brought her to see it, the mirror."

"Yea?" Theo asked, clearly interested.

"Yea. She said she saw herself as head girl, with Professor McGonagall smiling at her. And the other students looking happy for her."

"Makes sense." Harry said to him. "It's all I hear in the common room how she shouldn't be here because she's muggleborn. And she definitely shouldn't be as smart as she is, some of the pure bloods really hate it."

"They think she doesn't deserve to be here?" Draco asked. "But she's brilliant."

"They don't care. Her parents are muggles. Why do you think I spend all of my time with Blaise when I'm not with you idiots?"

"Where is he, by the way?" Theo asked as he looked around at the other tables. "I got used to having him around."

"Said something about helping Pansy and Daphne with potions. Pansy's just a little too much for me."

"Rude?" Draco asked.

"Mouthy." Harry settled on. "I'd never want to see her and Theo together."

"I think I should run down and meet her right now."

"I'll join you." Draco said quickly as they stood.

"Please don't." Harry called to them. "Guys!"

Draco looked back to see if Harry would follow them once they were out of sight. "So where are you going?"

"Probably back to my room." Theo snickered. "Let him worry a bit. You?"

"I'll head down to the library."

"You good, Draco?"

"I'm fine." His practiced answer coming out a little too practiced. "I will be fine. I'll see you later."

* * *

Four hours later, Hermione and Draco made their way back to their common room, full of disappointment.

"I can't believe we haven't been able to find anything!"

"I swear I've heard the name somewhere, I just can't remember where."

Hermione plopped on the couch in the common room while Draco went to his dormitory to get some snacks and the game Sirius had gotten him for Christmas this year, connect four. He loved that Hermione's face lit up when she saw it.

"Care to play?"

"Where did you get this?" She squealed and moved to the floor, setting up the game on the coffee table while Draco opened the box of snacks and pulled out a bag of trail mix.

"Sirius gave it to me for Christmas. We get a muggle game every year. I guess when Harry's parents were still alive they all lived together and had game night every week or something, and Harry's mom and Aunt Petunia always picked muggle games. Sirius really likes them. Here, she made this, too." He said as he handed her the bag.

Hermione took a handful. "She's sounds really wonderful."

"She's the best."

They had only played two games when Ron came in and sat with them, watching. He played two with Draco and two with Hermione, when Neville came into the common room, hopping. Thankfully the room was empty except for them.

"Neville!" Hermione squeaked as she took out her wand and performed the countercurse. "What happened?" She helped him to a chair nearby, since his legs were trembling from exhaustion.

"A leg locker curse." Draco said, which Neville confirmed with a shaky nod.

"How the bloody hell did you get up here?" Ron asked. "You jumped up all of those stairs?"

Neville nodded, completely out of breath. "Goyle. I met him as I was leaving the great hall from lunch. Said he'd been looking for someone to practice it on."

"You have got to start standing up to people, Neville." Ron scolded. "If you don't they'll just-"

"There's no need to tell me that I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, I've ready heard it enough times, thank you." He choked out.

Draco fished around in the snack box from Petunia and pulled out a chocolate frog. "Here, Neville. Eat this, you'll feel better. That's what Remus always says, anyway."

"You're worth twelve of that idiot Goyle." Hermione said sternly. "The hat put you in Gryffindor didn't it? That means you do belong here."

"Thanks guys." He said glumly. He opened up the package and took the frog out. "Here, want the card? Don't you guys collect them?"

Draco took the card back. "Dumbledore ag-" then he gasped. "Look!" He held the card up to Ron and Hermione. When they didn't understand he took it back and read it aloud. "Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner Nicolas Flamel!"

Hermione jumped to her feet and didn't look back as she took off running.

"What's going on?" Neville asked. "Why is that important?"

"We've been searching for him for weeks! We had no idea who he is."

"You still don't know who he is." Neville said blandly.

Draco could have glared at him. "You've been around Blaise and Theo too much."

Hermione came back a minute later with a huge book in her hands and slammed it on the floor, making them all jump. "I can't believe I didn't think to look in here! I checked this out weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"This is light?" Ron said in complete disbelief.

She glared at him quickly before she began flipping through hundreds of pages. "There! Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone!"

"The what?" Ron and Neville said at the same time.

"Ugh. Don't you read?!" She huffed. "The Sorcerer's Stone will transform any metal into gold, and also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal. That means you can't die."

"I know what it means!" Ron protested.

Hermione gave the smallest smirk of satisfaction then began to read again. "Mr. Nicholas Flamel currently owns the only stone known to exist, and just recently celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday."

"Six hundred and sixty-five." Draco said in awe.

"That's what Fluffy is guarding on the third floor. That's what's hidden under that trap door. The Sorcerer's Stone."

"I have to tell Harry!" Draco shot up like he was going to run for the door.

"Draco, wait!" Ron said as he grabbed his sleeve. "Quidditch practice, remember? He won't be done for a while."

Draco sat back down with a groan. "What do we do until then?"

"Well, now that we've solved that we could study for our final exams."

"Exams?!" Ron squeaked. "Finals aren't until June!"

"It's never too early to start studying, Ronald."

* * *

Very reluctantly, and really only to make Hermione stop yelling at them, they studied. Neville showed her his book of spells he got for Christmas and she helped him with a few wand movements, which he could never get right. Ron mostly faked his way through, although Draco knew that Hermione wasn't fooled. As soon as it was time for dinner Ron took off towards the great hall.

"He barely did anything!" Hermione huffed.

"At least he stayed." Draco tried to reason. "He might have learned something."

They packed up their things and returned them to their rooms before heading down to the great hall themselves. Draco couldn't wait to tell Harry about what they'd figured out. As they were walking down the stairs they saw Theo ahead of him and ran to catch up, so they could walk together. They'd arrived early, so they sat and waited for Harry, who Draco thought was taking forever to get there.

"Hey guys." Blaise said as he sat down.

"Hey, Blaise." Theo said to him.

"Have you seen Harry?" Draco blurted out.

"Oh yea. Passed him in the hall, said he was going to shower before-"

Draco groaned.

"Will you settle down." Hermione whispered. "Just relax."

"I am relaxed." Draco's tense voice just made Hermione roll her eyes.

"What's going on with you?" Theo questioned as he looked at Draco, then Hermione.

"We just have something to tell everyone, and I want to wait for Harry."

"Well you might as well eat, he'll be at least another twenty minutes." Blaise said to him.

So Draco began to eat, while pouting about it the entire time. He was mostly ignored by everyone else at the table, while they chatted about their day.

Theo was laughing at something Blaise said when he looked up and saw Harry walking in, holding his head. He quickly elbowed Draco to get his attention.

"Ouch, What?" Theo nodded in Harry's direction. "His scar must be hurting again."

"Did you ever ask Remus if he found anything on curse scars?" Draco asked as he stared at Harry.

"No. Harry hasn't brought it up since, so I thought maybe it was just a headache that he had."

"He hasn't said anything to me about it." Blaise said to them. "Harry, everything okay?"

Harry sat down next to his friend, still holding his forehead. "My scar hurts. Ever since quidditch practice. Its better, but it's still there."

Out of instinct Draco looked to the head table and sure enough, Snape was watching them. "Do you think it has something to do with Snape?"

"Yes." Harry said immediately. "I heard him talking to Professor Quirrell outside the pitch when practice was over. Snape watched our practice, and my scar hurt the whole time."

"What did they talk about?" Hermione asked as she leaned forward.

"I'm not sure, as soon as practice was done I left to get away from him, hoping it would stop."

Theo filled his plate and pushed it in front of him, hoping that Harry would at least try to eat something. "Draco has some news for you."

"Oh, right. You'll like this!" Draco's excitement coming through.

"Yea? Okay." Harry offered a small smile and began to eat, while he listened to Draco tell him how they found out who Nicolas Flamel is.

After dinner Ron and Neville went back to their common room to play jenga, Ron's new favorite thing, while Hermione and Blaise went to the library to study. It was late, but Harry, Theo and Draco decided to go and visit Hagrid, to see what they could find out from him. It was already dark out, and they didn't have much time, so they ran as fast as they could and pounded on his door.

"Who is it?" He barked out when he opened the door.

"Hagrid! We-"

"Sorry." Hagrid said quickly, cutting Harry off. "Don't wish to be rude, but I'm in no fit state to entertain today." He tried to shut the door but Draco grabbed it.

"We know about the Sorcerer's Stone!"

"Oh." He was hesitant to let them in, but he finally stepped aside so they could enter.

"We think Snape is trying to steal it." Draco said as he sat down.

"Snape, blimey your still not on about him, are ye?"

"Hagrid, we know he's after the Stone, we just don't know why." Harry said to him.

"Snape is one of the teachers protecting the stone, He's not about to steal it."

"What?"

Theo looked at Harry. "The teachers are guarding the stone, so there's others things to get passed, isn't there? Loads of enchantments, probably."

Draco nodded in agreement. "So Professor Quirrell would have done some anti dark arts spells that Snape would need to break through."

"That's right, bit of a waste of time if you ask me. Ain't no one gonna get passed Fluffy. Ain't a soul that knows how, 'cept me an Dumbledore. I shouldn't have told you that, Come now." Hagrid huffed. "I'm a bit preoccupied today."

The kettle behind him on the stove began to make hissing sounds and Hagrid jumped and began to coo at the pot. Theo looked around and saw several books from the library on the table on dragons. His suspicions were confirmed when Hagrid pulled out an egg the size of a melon from the kettle and ran to the table.

"What exactly is that?" Harry asked as he moved to the table to get a closer look.

"That? Well, it's a... it's..."

"Hagrid, that's a dragon egg." Theo breathed. "Where do you get it?"

"I won it. Off a stranger I met down at the pub. Seemed quite glad to be rid of it, matter of fact."

The egg began to shake and crack, and within seconds a slimy green dragon broke free.

"Isn't he beautiful?!" Hagrid said with pride. "Oh, bless him, he knows his mummy. Hello there, Norbert."

"Norbert..." Harry repeated.

"Well he's gotta have a name, don' he?" He began to coo at the dragon some more and attempt to tickle it, which only made the dragon sneeze fire and catch his beard aflame.

"Hagrid!" Theo's voice rising in shock. "You have a fire breathing dragon... in your wooden house!"

"Well he'll have to be trained up a bit, o' course!" He said as he frantically patted the fire out of his singed beard.

Hagrid just continued to talk to his pet dragon, so they left him alone, grumbling about how they now had another problem to solve... Hagrid and his illegal dragon. Walking back to the castle, they realized the time.

"Walk quietly." Theo whispered, the last thing we need is to get caught by Filch."

They hadn't made but three steps into the castle when Filch rounded the corner, with Blaise in tow. "More students out of bed?" He grinned, making his yellow teeth show. "Let's see what your heads of house have to say about this."

Filch lead them to Professor McGonagall's office, since she was the one on watch that night.

"What do you have to say for yourselves?! Four students out of bed, wandering about! I'm disgusted! Mr. Nott, I thought you had more sense. And as for you, Mr. Malfoy, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than that. Nothing gives you the right to walk around the school at night, especially these days, it's very dangerous. You will all receive detentions, and fifty points will be taken... from each of you."

"Fifty points each?!" Blaise gasped. That was one hundred points from Slytherin.

"You heard me, Mr. Zabini. Now get back to bed, all of you!" She gave Draco one last disappointed look, then turned away from them, signaling that they better get moving.

"Blaise, what were you doing out of bed?" Harry whispered as they walked away.

"Looking for you! You left the cloak in your trunk, and you didn't say anything about going out, I thought something might have happened! You've been saying your scar has been hurting a lot."

Harry sighed, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry, we went to see Hagrid, that's a whole other thing, I'm sorry I got you detention, and points taken away."

Blaise scoffed. "I don't care about points. You're the best seeker Slytherin has had in years, all you have to do is win the next match and we'll be fine."

Harry grinned at him. "I can do that."

* * *

The next morning at breakfast they were all sharing their tale to the rest of the table about what had happened last night. Theo, who usually started the day at the Ravenclaw table, then wandered over to them, sat with them immediately.

"I think they're really mad at me." He said glumly. "We were beating Hufflepuff for the house cup, but now we're not. I guess no one's ever lost fifty points all at once before."

With the morning mail four letters arrived, one for Harry, Theo, Draco and Blaise; all from Professor McGonagall, saying their detentions would be served tonight at eleven pm, with Hagrid.

"I don't get it." Theo said as he read the only sentence on the page three more times. "Our detention for being with Hagrid is to be with Hagrid?"

"Well whatever." Draco said as folded up his letter and stuffed it in the envelope. "It can't be that bad then, right?"

"At least it's Friday, I can sleep right after quidditch practice tomorrow." Harry said hopefully.

* * *

At eleven pm the four boys met Filch so he could escort them to Hagrid's.

"Pity they let the old punishments die. There was a time when detention meant you'd be hanging by your thumbs in the dungeons. God, I miss the screaming." His sick smile turning their stomachs. "Now don't think of running off, it'll be worse if you do. Bet you won't be thinking of breaking anymore school rules after this."

Draco was beginning to wonder what exactly they'd be doing tonight. It must be really horrible, or else Filch wouldn't sound so delighted.

"Hagrid's got a little job for you to do, inside the dark forest."

"The dark forest?" Theo rasped in shock. "But we can't go in there, we're only first years."

"Yea! There's... you know... monsters in there." Blaise said quickly, nearly panicking. "Werewolves!"

"Oh." Filch said with a grin. "There's more than werewolves in there. You can be sure of that. Nighty night."

Blaise and Theo exchanged panicked looks, but went with Hagrid into the forest anyway. They walked in silence, the only noise being the crunching leaves under their feet and the random howls of creatures off in the distance. Hagrid had his cross bow at the ready, which didn't ease anyone's nerves.

"See that there?" Hagrid asked quietly as he knelt and swirled his fingers in a metallic puddle on the ground. "This here is unicorn blood. Somethin's been goin after them, this is second one this week. I found one dead on Wednesday. We're gonna try and find the poor thing, see if we can help it. If only to put it out of its misery."

"And... and what if whatever is hurting the unicorns find us first?" Blaise asked.

"There's nothin' in this forest that can hurt ye as long as yer with me." Hagrid said confidently.

"Could a werewolf kill a unicorn?" Blaise asked as they began walking again, deeper into the forest.

"No." Theo answered right away. "They're not fast enough."

"That's right, Theo. And unicorns are powerful magical creatures, I've never known one to be hurt like this before."

"How did you know that?" Blaise whispered.

"I just know a lot about werewolves." He answered evasively.

They continued to follow the spotty trail of unicorn blood. Everyone kept in a single file line behind Hagrid and Fang.

"It couldn't have gone far, especially if it's this badly hurt, it won't be able ter- GET BEHIND THAT TREE!"

All at once they ran behind the towering oak tree, while Hagrid drew his crossbow back and took aim. No one knew what he saw or heard. As they listened, they could hear something slithering over the dead leaves nearby, but the sound faded quickly.

"There's somethin' here that shouldn't be." He said grimly as he lowered his bow. Just then, he heard the crunching of heavy footsteps. "Who's there?! Show yourself!" He demanded.

Something stepped into the clearing, making the four boys look in awe.

"Oh, it's you, Ronan." Hagrid breathed. "How are ye?"

The centaur walked forward to shake Hagrid's hand, his red hair and bead slightly blowing in the breeze. "Good evening, Hagrid." His deep voice sending shivers down Draco's spine.

"There's somethin' bad lose in this forest. This be Harry, Draco, Theo and Blaise. Students from the school. Boys, this is Ronan, he's a centaur."

Blaise nodded faintly. "We noticed."

Ronan's nodded to them in greeting, then gazed up at the stars. "Mars is bright tonight."

"Listen, Ronan. There's a unicorn that's been hurt, know anythin' 'bout that?"

Ronan didn't answer right away, instead continued to look at the stars. "Always the innocent are the first victims."

"Yea. Have you seen anythin' unusual?" Hagrid asked again.

"Mars is bright tonight." He repeated. "Unusually bright." He looked back to Hagrid, his face all seriousness. "The forest hides many secrets."

Out of nowhere, a second centaur appeared, but this one had jet black hair, and had a wilder look about him than Ronan.

"Hello, Bane."

"Hello, Hagrid. I hope you are well."

"Well enough. Look, ye seen anythin' odd in here lately? There's a unicorn been injured, know anything' 'bout that?"

Bane stood next to Ronan and looked to the sky. "Mars is bright tonight."

Hagrid just sighed. "Well if either of ye see anythin', let me know will ye? We best be off."

He nodded and walked away, with the boys quickly following him. "Bunch o' stargazers, they are." He grumbled.

"How many of them are out here?" Draco asked.

"Oh, a fair few."

"Do you think that's what we heard earlier? A centaur." Blaise asked hopefully.

"No. Didn't sound like hooves." Hagrid said without looking back. "You ask me, whatever we heard is what's been killin' these unicorns."

They walked on through the dark, dense trees. The deeper they got into the forest the darker and scarier it seemed to get.

"We should split up." Hagrid suggested. "Theo and Blaise, you'll come with me. Harry and Draco, you two will be together."

Harry and Draco nodded, although neither one was so sure about going into the forest by themselves.

"Got yer wands, yea? Send up some red sparks if you get into trouble."

Harry and Draco took off in the opposite direction as the others, with Draco holding the lantern in front of them. They kept quiet, not wanting to attract any more attention. They didn't know the centaurs like Hagrid, and the last thing they needed was trouble. They'd spotted more puddles of blood and began to follow the trail, hoping to just find the injured unicorn and leave.

"Harry, look." Draco whispered as he grabbed his arm to stop him. "There."

Up ahead they both saw something that was bright white on the ground in front of the mangled roots of an uprooted oak tree. Once they got closer they realized it was the injured unicorn, and it was dead. Draco had never seen anything so beautiful. Its pearly white mane was sprawled out against the dark dead leaves. The sight made him sad, who could kill a unicorn?

He didn't have to wait long to find out. A hooded figure emerged from the shadows and lowered itself next to the unicorn, drinking the blood from the wound on its neck.

"Ah!" Harry screamed, his scar sending a piercing pain through his head. It felt like nothing he'd ever experienced before. He stumbled backwards, right into Draco.

Draco covered Harry's mouth, but it was too late. The vile creature heard them and turned to look right at them. It seemed to slither towards them, unlike any living thing they knew of. Harry and Draco couldn't move, rooted in fear as they watched it come closer and closer, the unicorn blood dripping down its face. Both boys stumbled backwards, with Harry shutting his eyes tightly against the pain. Harry faintly heard the stomping of hooves behind them, and only when Draco tried to pull him up did he realize that the creature was gone.

"Harry Potter, are you alright?" The centaur asked. He had white blond hair and piercing blue eyes.

"I- Yes. Thank you. What was that?" He asked as he leaned against Draco for support. His head still hurt, but it was much less than before. The centaur moved closer and removed Harry's hand from his face, gazing at the searing red scar on his forehead.

"A monstrous creature." Was his grave reply. "You had better get back to Hagrid. It's not safe here, especially for you."

"What's your name?" Draco asked him.

"I am Firenze. We must leave. I will help you find Hagrid."

Draco continued to hold onto Harry, whatever that thing was affected him and Draco was scared about why. He looked back at the dead unicorn, wondering again why anyone would want to kill it. Seeming to read his thoughts, Firenze turned to look at him.

"Do you know what unicorn blood his used for?" He asked.

"No, we've only used the horn and tail hair in potions."

"It is a terrible crime to slay a unicorn. Drinking the blood of a unicorn will keep you alive even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. For you have slain something so pure, that from the moment the blood touches your lips, you will have a half-life, a cursed life."

"But who would chose such a life?" Harry asked, thoughtlessly. "Who would be that desperate? If you're going to be cursed forever, wouldn't death be better?"

"It would be. Unless all you needed is to stay alive long enough to drink something else, something that will bring you back to full strength and full power. Can you think of no one?"

Draco gulped, the realization hitting him hard. "You mean to say, that that thing... that thing that killed the unicorn and was drinking its blood, that was Voldemort?"

"Do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"

"The Sorcerer's Stone." Draco whispered. He couldn't find his voice to speak any louder.

"Harry!"

Draco looked up to see Theo running towards them, with Blaise and Hagrid right behind him.

"Hello, Firenze. See you've met young Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy. Alright there, boys?" Hagrid said with worry.

"Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy. This is where I leave you. You're safe now." Firenze then looked to the sky. "The planets have been wrong before. I hope this is one of those times. Good luck." With a nod to Hagrid he walked away.

"We found the unicorn." Harry said sadly. "It's in that clearing back there."

"Alright, I'll take care of it then. Best get you boys back to the school."

* * *

The second Draco was back in his dormitory he woke up Ron and Neville. He rushed through everything that happened, barely stopping for air.

"So, you mean to tell me, that You-Know-Who is out there right now, in the forest?"

Draco nodded frantically. "But he's weak. He's living off the blood of unicorns. Don't you see?! We had it all wrong! Snape doesn't want the Stone for himself, he wants it for Voldemort! My mom told me that he was a supporter of his, and he's friends with Lucius, who was a fanatic! With the Elixir of Life, Voldemort will be strong again."

"Stop saying his _name_." Ron hissed.

"If he comes back, you think he'll try to kill Harry. Don't you?" Neville asked gravely.

"I think if Voldemort had the chance he would've tried to kill him tonight."

"Will you stop saying his name!" Ron's terrified whisper making Draco chuckle.

"Wait, hang on. What did Cissa say before we came to school?" Neville asked Draco. "Who's the one wizard that Voldemort always feared?"

Ron huffed and crossed his arms, clearly annoyed that Neville has said his name, too.

"Dumbledore." Neville said clearly. "As long as Dumbledore is around, Harry will be safe. I know Sirius and Petunia have their qualms with him, but even they don't deny that he's powerful and Voldemort was always afraid of him. As long as Dumbledore is here, Harry can't be touched."

Draco knew that Neville had a point. Petunia would always hold a grudge against Dumbledore for the way Sirius was treated all those years ago, but Sirius and Remus both agreed that Dumbledore was a great wizard.

"Come on, let's get to bed."

"Yea." Draco said to Ron. He changed for bed but couldn't sleep. Instead just lying there staring at the ceiling, worrying about Harry.

* * *

In an attempt to take their mind off the apparent return of Voldemort, in the following week at least one person in their group of friends made a point to visit Hagrid to see how he and Norbert were doing. Dean and Seamus couldn't get enough of the dragon, mostly since for once it wasn't Seamus's fault that things were catching fire. Theo would only go down early in the morning, in hopes that his housemates would see him in the castle for the rest of the day following the rules, and start talking to him again.

On Saturday they were all in the great hall studying, sitting at the Slytherin table for a change, since it was the emptiest one.

"I've been thinking." Ron said quietly, without looking up.

"That's a first." Draco drawled.

"Shut up, I'm serious. There's no way Hagrid can keep that dragon, what if I wrote to my brother, Charlie."

"For what, advice?" Harry asked.

"No, to see if he could take Norbert to the reserve."

Blaise looked impressed. "That's a brilliant idea!"

"You can use my owl, write him a letter now." Harry said excitedly.

Another week went by before they heard anything from Charlie. Turned out that he was happy to take Norbert, and he and some friends would fly to Hogwarts to pick him up. They hatched a plan to meet at the astronomy tower at midnight the following Saturday. The only problem was, they still had to tell Hagrid.

Hagrid was heartbroken, but knew this was the best thing for Norbert. He said his goodbyes and even helped the boys, minus Theo, who didn't want anything to do with it, up to the astronomy tower to wait for Charlie. They didn't have to wait long when four brooms came into view, with some odd contraption hanging between them.

"Hiya, Hagrid!" The tall redhead beamed.

"Charlie Weasley." Hagrid said with affection.

"Got a dragon, did ya?"

"Yer gon take good care of him?" His scratchy voice full of emotion.

"Don't worry, Hagrid. Norbert will have the best life, I promise." He smiled then turned his attention to his little brother. "Good to see ya, Ron. Who's your friends?"

"This is Harry and Draco." He said proudly.

"Getting into quite a bit a shenanigans, have you? Made me proud!"

Ron smiled up at him, then Charlie became all business. They put Norbert in the harness they had made, and tied him in place so he was safe. Hagrid put a bucket of brandy and some dead rats next to him, along with his favorite teddy bear so he won't get lonely. With a teary goodbye, they watched Charlie leave.

"It's alright, Hagrid." Harry said to him. "Norbert will be so happy there."

Hagrid just nodded. "Well, better get you boys to bed, I'll walk ya. Say you've been helpin me with... somethin'."

Thankfully, they didn't run into Filch or any other teachers, since the boys knew no one would believe a story Hagrid came up with. Hagrid took Ron and Draco to Gryffindor tower, while Harry used his cloak to head down to the dungeons.

* * *

End of the year exams were here before they knew it. Hermione and Theo became slave drivers, forcing every single one of them to study during every free minute they had. Harry had caught the snitch in the last game of the year, earning them the win against Hufflepuff. Draco will never understand how he managed to make it through all of his exams, since he and Harry expected Voldemort to come bursting into the room at every class, ready to kill him.

Draco, Ron and Hermione made their way down to the black lake, enjoying the nice weather that came with spring. Fred, George and Lee Jordan were also there, tickling the tentacles of the giant squid.

"No more studying." Ron sighed happily as he plopped down in the soft grass, next to Harry and Theo. Blaise and Neville joined soon after.

"Your scar is hurting." Theo said bluntly as he watched Harry rub his forehead again.

"I wish I knew what it means!" Draco huffed. "I don't want to ask my mom, she'll know something's going on."

"I think it means dangers coming." Harry said to him. "Every time it hurts, something bad happens."

"Maybe we should ask Hagrid." Theo joked. "He's always telling us things that he shouldn't."

Everyone else laughed, knowing full well how when Hagrid got to talking, he would say things that were better off left as secrets.

"Of course!" Harry said as he jumped up. "That's it!"

"What's it, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Don't you think it's a bit odd that what Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon, and a stranger just turns up who happens to have one?!"

Theo caught on instantly. "How many people walk around with dragons eggs in their pockets? Why didn't we see it before?!"

Harry and Theo took off running, with Ron, Draco and Hermione right behind them. Blaise and Neville stayed where they were.

"They're always doing that." Blaise said carelessly, as if he was used to their dramatics.

"Hagrid!" Harry shouted once they were close enough. "Who gave you the dragon egg? What did he look like?"

Hagrid stopped playing his flute and looked at them curiously.

"I don't know. I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."

"Did you talk to this stranger?" Draco questioned.

"Course! He wanted to know what sort of creatures I looked after. I told him, I said after Fluffy, a dragon's gonna be no problem."

"Did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Ron asked.

"Well o' course he was interested in Fluffy. How often do you come across a three headed dog, even if you're in the trade? But I told him, I said. I said the trick with any beast is to know how to calm it! Take Fluffy for example, just play him a bit of music and he falls straight to sleep."

They all gasped in unison, and only then had Hagrid realized what he'd done.

"I shouldn't have told you that."

They took off again straight for the castle and didn't stop until they'd reached Professor McGonagall's classroom.

"Professor!" Draco shouted as they ran right up to her desk. "Professor we have to speak to Professor Dumbledore!"

"Immediately!" Hermione added.

"I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore is not here. He received an urgent message from the ministry and left at once for London."

"He's gone?!" Harry panicked. "But this is important! It's about The Sorcerer's Stone! Someone's going to try and steal it!"

McGonagall stared at them, shocked. Whatever she had expected them to say, it certainly wasn't that. "I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but I assure you it is perfectly well protected. Now, back to your dormitories. All of you."

"Now what do we do?" Ron asked once they left McGonagall's classroom.

"We go down the trap door. Tonight."

Draco could have groaned at Harry's response, but he knew that they needed to protect the Stone. They couldn't let Voldemort get to it first. He'd heard stories from everyone he lived with about how bad it was before when he was rising to power the first time. If Voldemort got to the stone, his power would be completely restored. He would take over Hogwarts, turn it into a Dark Arts school, he would hurt people like Hermione, kill them even. He couldn't let that happen.

* * *

Draco, Hermione and Ron waited in the common room until everyone was asleep. Harry had given him his invisibility cloak at dinner, so the three of them could go to the third floor corridor without anyone seeing. Ron and Hermione would stay there, while Draco went to get Theo, and then finally Harry. No one knew what to expect once they were through the trap door, so the five of them agreed to go together.

"Ready?" Draco said as he pulled out the cloak.

"Let's go." Ron said as he stood. A loud croaking making him jump. "Trevor! Shh. Go, you shouldn't be here."

"Neither should you." Neville said as he moved out of the shadows of the large chair he was in. "You're sneaking out again, aren't you?"

"Neville, we have to." Draco tried to reason. "It's about-"

"I know what it's about! I can't let you do this. I'll... I'll fight you."

"Neville, I'm really sorry about this." Hermione said just before she raised her wand. " _Petrificus Totalus!_ "

Neville's arms snapped to his sides, his entire body going rigid just before he fell to the floor, stiff as a board.

"What have you done to him?!" Draco asked, clearly worried about his friend.

"A full body bind. Oh, Neville, I'm so sorry."

Ron looked over at her. "You're a bit scary sometimes, you know that? Brilliant, but scary."

"Let's go." Draco said glumly as he looked at Neville one last time. They got to the portrait and threw the cloak over them before they opened it. "He's worried something will happen to us. Neville is a good friend."

"Of course he is, but no one believes us, and we don't have time to find people that do." Hermione said to him. Draco knew she was right, but it still hurt that they'd left Neville like that.

Draco followed the plan to the letter, and once he returned with Harry, he gave the cloak back to him.

"So, we're really doing this?" Theo asked.

"We have to." Draco answered.

Hermione walked up to the door and unlocked it, the door opening slowly and silently. They heard music and the sound of Fluffy's snoring.

"He's asleep." Ron hissed, then pointed to the spelled harp. "Snape's already been here."

"Ugh, his breath is gross." Theo said as he waved his hand frantically in front of his face.

"We have to move its paw." Draco said as he carefully knelt in front of the huge beast. "Help me."

It took all four boys to move it, and then Hermione to open the trap door. She felt around for a ladder, but couldn't feel or see anything.

"It's completely dark down there, and no ladder. We'll have to jump."

"I'll go first." Harry said quickly. "If something happens to me, send Hedwig to Dumbledore, got it?"

"Yea, Yea." Theo said with a wave of his hand. "Just go already."

Harry threw his legs over, then after a deep breath jumped. No one heard any screaming, so Draco shrugged and jumped in next. Each of them going on by one until Theo was the only one left. They seemed to fall forever, before landing on some kind of cushion.

"We must be miles under the school!" Theo huffed.

"What is this?" Harry asked as he poked around on whatever they landed on.

"Lucky it was here."

"Lucky? Look at yourself." Hermione muttered.

Ron looked down and saw the vines that were beginning to wrap around him.

The movement seemed to spur the planet into action, and began to engulf all of them with its thick black vines. The more they struggled, the quicker the plant wound around them.

Stop moving, I know what this is!" Hermione tried to shout. "It's Devil's Snare!"

"Oh, I'm so glad that we know what to call it!" Ron said sarcastically. "That's a great help!"

"She's right, you have to relax." Theo said calmly. "If you don't it will only kill you faster."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Such a way with words. You're a real comfort sometimes, you know that?" He watched as Theo tried to stay as still as possible, then fell through the plants vines. He relaxed as much as he could, then fell right through himself.

"Where did you go?!" Ron yelled as he continued to struggle with the vines.

"Ron, you have to relax!" Hermione said, irritated. She was close enough to Ron that his frantic movements were making vines wrap around her tightly, too.

"Ugh, he's not listening!" Draco said from beside him.

"I remember something from Herbology." Theo said as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare. It's deadly fun, but will sulk in the sun! That's it! Devil's Snare hates sunlight!" He took out his wand and pointed it up towards the huge plant. " _Lumos Solem!_ "

The plant seemed to hiss from the light and within seconds Harry, Hermione and Ron fell through.

"Whew!" Ron said as he stood up. "Lucky we didn't panic."

Harry stared at him. "Lucky Theo pays attention in Herbology."

"Guys." Draco waved them over to the door he'd just opened. "Look at this."

They all walked into the room and heard the fluttering of something flying.

"I've never seen birds like these. They're must be a thousand of them." Hermione said in awe.

"They're not birds, they're keys." Harry said to her. He walked over to the broom that was hovering in the middle of the room.

"Do we have to fly our way out? There's only one broom." Theo wondered.

"No, one of these keys opens that door." Draco said decisively. He watched as Ron walked up to the door, wand out, and tried the Alohamora spell.

"It was worth a shot."

Draco snorted. "No it wasn't."

Harry looked up at all the keys flying in the air. "There! I see it, there one with a broken wing."

"We'll go on, youngest seeker in a century. Go get it." Draco smirked. "Shouldn't be that hard."

Harry mounted the broom and lifted into the air, but the moment he did so the keys began to attack him.

"Well, that complicates things, doesn't it." Theo snickered.

"I hate you, Draco!"

Draco actually laughed. "He probably does." He watched as Harry flew around the tall tower like room in search of the right key. Within a few minutes Harry grabbed the key and threw it to Draco.

"Unlock the damn door!" He shouted.

Draco unlocked it and they all ran inside. The moment Harry jumped off the broom and ran in Draco slammed the door. He could hear the keys hit the door with force.

"Now what?" Theo groaned as they walked through the next room, filled with rubble.

"I don't like this." Hermione said nervously. "I don't like this at all."

"Are we in a graveyard?" Harry asked as he looked around. Broken and shattered statues all around him.

"This is no graveyard." Ron said as he walked forward. "It's a chessboard."

The moment all of them stepped onto the marble floor of the chessboard, a fire that surrounded the entire thing lit up, blocking them inside.

"Now what?" Hermione looked around but saw no way out. "The door is on the other side."

"It's obvious, isn't it? We have to play our way across." Ron turned to face them, looking every bit the brilliant chess player he was. "Alright. Theo, you take the empty bishop's square. Draco and I will be the knight's. Hermione, you'll be the queen's side-castle. Harry, you take the king's square. No offense, but you two are horrible at chess-"

"We're not offended at all." Harry said quickly. Hermione nodded in agreement. "Just tell us exactly what to do."

Everyone went to their positions. Once they were all in place, one of the white pawns moved forward, signaling the start of the game. Ron began to direct the black pieces, they listened to everything he said, moving silently across the board. The pieces showed no mercy, either. Each piece that was taken was smashed to bits. As the game went on, the only players yet to move were Hermione and Harry. Draco, Theo and Ron moved around the board, smashing their opponents.

"We're nearly there!" Draco shouted in excitement. Two, maybe three moves and the game was theirs.

"Let me think..." Ron said to them all. The white queen spun round to face him, and then he knew. "Yes."

"Wait a minute! No!" Theo shouted as he looked around.

"Yes, that's chess. There has to be sacrifices." Ron said softly.

"Ron, no!" Harry shouted, but Ron ignored him.

"You understand, right?" Ron asked Theo. "Once I make my move, the queen will take me. That leaves you free to check the king."

"But-"

"Hermione, no!" He shouted. "Do you want to stop Snape from getting that stone or not?"

"He's right." Draco said to her.

"Don't hang around and wait for me. The moment the game is over, just go. He might already have it." With a deep breath Ron turned around and faced the queen. "Knight to h3."

His chess piece moved across the floor "Check." He muttered.

The queen moved swiftly to stand in front of him, then swung her sword harshly, shattering the horse Ron was seated on.

"Ron!" Hermione yelled.

"Don't move!" Theo yelled back. "We're still playing." He made his move next, three squares to the left. "Checkmate."

The white king took off his crown and threw it as Theo's feet. The chessmen parted and bowed, leaving the door ahead of him clear. "Let's go."

Draco looked desperately at Ron, laying among the ruble of the mutilated pieces. "He's, Alright, yea?"

"He's fine. Gryffindor and all." Theo said from beside him. "Come on."

"We've only got Quirrell and Snape left, I think." Hermione said, thinking back on all of the obstacles.

Draco pushed open the door, and was hit with the most disgusting smell he'd ever come across.

"What the bloody hell is that?" Ron mumbled through his shirt that he'd pulled over his nose.

"Glad we didn't have to fight that one." Harry said as they passed the giant troll. This one being even larger than the one from the beginning of the year.

"Let's go. Quickly!" Theo ran to the door and wasted no time pulling it open. There was nothing scary about this next room, just a table with seven differently shaped bottles sitting all in a row. Once each of them stepped over the threshold of the door, a purple fire sprang from behind them, and a black fire before them.

"Look." Hermione walked up to the table and picked up the scroll lying next to the bottles. She sighed once she finished reading whatever was on the parchment. Then she smiled. Draco wondered why she was smiling, it was the last thing he felt like doing.

"This isn't magic, this is logic. A puzzle."

"Okay?" Harry was confused. Draco was too, but he was glad he didn't voice it, given the glare Hermione sent to Harry.

"Seven bottles. Three are poison, two are wine, one will get us safely through the black fire, and one will get us back through the purple."

Theo walked up to her and eyed the bottles, too, while reading the scroll.

She held up the smallest bottle. "This one will get us through the black fire, toward the Stone, but there's not enough for all of us."

"Which one gets us back through the purple flames?" Theo asked her.

"This one." She pointed to the round bottle at the end.

"Alright. This is what we should do." Theo turned to face everyone. "Hermione, drink this one. Go back and get Ron. No, listen." He held up a hand when she looked like she was going to protest. "Go get Ron and use the broom from the key room to fly out of here. Send my owl to Dumbledore, we need him. Draco, Harry and I will go forward. Together we might be able to hold him off until help comes."

"What if... if You-Know-Who is there, too?" Hermione questioned.

"I was lucky once, wasn't I?" Harry tried to joke, but no one was fooled. They were all worried.

"Hurry." Draco said he handed her the smallest bottle. "Drink this, go get help."

Hermione's lips trembled, then she threw her arms around Draco, then Harry, and then Theo. "Please, please be careful!"

"It's going to be alright." Draco assured her. "Here." He watched as she took the bottle and drank it, giving a harsh shudder after.

"Is not the poison, was it?!"

Hermione shook her head at Harry. "No, I just feel like ice."

"Better go." Theo urged. "Before it wears off."

They watched Hermione walk through the purple flames. She turned back to look at them quickly, before running back to get Ron.

"Alright, here we go." Harry said as he picked up the round bottle on the end. He took a drink and handed it to Draco then Theo. With the potion of ice flowing through their veins, they walked through the black fire, ready for whatever was on the other side.

Nervously, they walked down several flights of stone steps that lead into a seemingly empty chamber. Harry hissed and put his hand to his head, his scar was burning again. When they reached the last few steps they saw someone standing in front of the Mirror of Erised, but it wasn't Snape. It wasn't even Voldemort.

"You?" Harry said in a whisper, completely baffled.

"No, it can't be." Draco said in disbelief. "Snape, he-"

"Yes, he does seem the type, doesn't he?" Professor Quirrell's words were cold and sharp. He was nothing like the usual trembling man they were used to. "Next to him who would ever suspect p-poor s-stuttering Professor Quirrell?"

"But that day, at the quidditch match. Snape tried to kill me."

"No, dear boy. I tried to kill you!" His harsh words and booming voice giving them all chills. "And trust me, if Snape's cloak hadn't caught fire and broken my eye contact, I would have succeeded. Even with him muttering his little countercurse."

"Snape tried to save you?" Theo whispered. This didn't make any sense.

"I knew you were a danger to me from the off. Especially after Halloween."

"You let the troll in!"

"Very Good, Malfoy. Unfortunately, Snape wasn't fooled. He of course, never trusted me again. He did make himself quite unpopular with the other teachers, all while trying to save you. Pity, since I'm going to kill you tonight."

"I heard you and Snape talking, behind the broom shed."

"He thought he could frighten me, but I had Lord Voldemort on my side. Hardly left me alone after that. But he doesn't understand." His voice low and heavy. "I'm never alone. Never. Now, what does this mirror do? I see what I desire. I see myself holding the stone and presenting it to my Master. How do I get it?!"

_Use the boy._

A chilling voice echoed through the room.

"Come here, Potter! Now!"

"Harry, no." Draco hissed, but it didn't matter.

Quirrell waved his hand and Harry flew over to him, wrapping him tightly in ropes, then sending Theo and Draco against the far wall, tangling them in ropes as well. Theo's head smacked the stone, making him slump to the floor, his head oozing blood.

"Theo!" Draco cried.

Quirrell ignored them. "Tell me, what do you see?"

Harry stood in front of the mirror for a moment, then turned to Quirrell. "No."

Draco's eyes got wide. Harry was going to get himself killed.

_Malfoy._

The eerie voice said to the room. Quirrell backhanded Harry across the face and clapped his hands, freeing Draco from the ropes that were holding him. He stumbled forward, then tried to run to Harry. Quirrell grabbed him by the collar and forced him to look at the mirror.

I just have to lie, that's all. I just have to lie about what I really see. "I see myself, shaking hands with Dumbledore. I've, I've won the house cup for Gryffindor."

Quirrell cursed as he turned away, seeming to have a conversation with himself. Draco chanced a glance at Harry, who tapped his pocket lightly. What was that supposed to mean?

_He lies... he lies..._

Quirrell spun around and grabbed Draco by the throat. "Tell the truth! What did you see?!"

_Let me speak to him._

"Master you are not strong enough."

_I have strength... for this._

Slowly, Quirrell unraveled his think purple turban. Draco felt as if every muscle in his body was made of lead, he couldn't move, was frozen to the very spot he stood in. There, on the back of Quirrell's head, was Voldemort's face. Pale white and glaring red eyes, with slits for nostrils, like a snake.

"Draco Malfoy. Harry Potter." The face whispered harshly.

Draco somehow moved to pull Harry up and back away from him. Harry was holding his scar again.

"You see what I have become? Mere shadow and vapor... see what I must do to survive? Unicorn blood can sustain me, but cannot give me a body of my own. But there is something that can. Now, why don't you give me that Stone in your pocket?"

Draco held in his gasp. Harry had the stone? How?! Harry didn't move a muscle, though. Just looked at the hideous face.

"Don't be a fool." Voldemort hissed. "Better save your own life and join me, or you'll meet the same fate as your parents... they died begging me for mercy..."

"Liar!" Harry seethed.

"And you, Malfoy. What did you see in the mirror?"

Draco didn't like the way he was looking at him, like he could see right into his mind.

"Your father, yes. Many hope to be like him... a master of the dark arts... a faithful servant..."

"Never!" Draco shouted. How did he know all of this?

"Seize them! Get the Stone!"

Quirrell ran towards Harry and put his hand right on his scar. The pain was blinding. Harry had never felt anything like this, as if his head would split in two.

Draco ran forward and tried to pull him off Harry, but wasn't strong enough. Quirrell, surprisingly enough, had backed off. Draco caught sight of his hand that was blistering right before his eyes.

"Seize him!" Voldemort shrieked again.

Quirrell lunged, knocking Harry right off his feet, and landed on top of him with both hands around Harry's neck.

Harry tried to scream from the pain in his head, but couldn't. Quirrell howled in agony.

"Master, I cannot hold him! My hands! My hands!" His burned palms were red and shiny, as if his very skin was melting off. He scrambled off Harry and backed away, giving Draco a chance to grab him. Harry sprang on top of Quirrell while Draco held him down, and put his hands right on his face.

"KILL HIM! KILL HIM!" Voldemort's raspy voice demanded.

Quirrell was screaming in agony, his face blistering just as bad as his hands. Draco held on tight as he struggled to get away. He had no idea what Harry was doing, but it seemed to be the only way to stop Quirrell from killing them. He held on tight until his Professor was no longer moving, and neither was Harry.

"Harry!" Not bothering to look at their more than likely dead teacher, Draco crawled over to Harry. He didn't look hurt, just passed out. He was still breathing. He then crawled over to Theo, who still had blood dripping down his face. He untied the tightly bound ropes as best as he could, sliding Theo's limp body out of them. "It's alright, its okay. We're all gonna be okay." He choked out. He ripped a piece of his sleeve and began to dap at Theo's Head, hoping that someone would find them quickly. He couldn't get them out of here by himself.

* * *

Draco woke up in a hospital bed, with Theo lying beside him, his head wrapped in bandages, and Harry asleep in the bed next to Theo.

"Theo." He tried to say, but it came out as a croak. He wondered how long he'd been here. And what was wrong with Harry?

"Ahh, Draco, awake are we?"

Draco looked over and saw Dumbledore standing off to the side of the room. He swallowed a few times, to try and wet his dry mouth. "Sir, Quirrell! The Stone! The-"

"Calm down, dear boy. You're a little behind in the times." Dumbledore's soft smile set him at ease.

"The Stone is safe."

Draco sighed in relief. Only then looking around and seeing the tables in front of their beds, covered in cards and sweets.

"Gifts from your admirers." Dumbledore teased. "What happened in the dungeons between you boys and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so naturally, the whole school knows. I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley we're responsible for trying to send you a toilet seat. No doubt they thought it would amuse you."

Draco smiled at that, just the thought amused him greatly.

"Your friends will be happy to know that you're awake, they've been most worried about you."

"How long have I been out?"

"About twelve hours. It's been a very trying night. I arrived just as you were finishing tending to Theodore, here. You passed out quite quickly after that."

"Will he be alright?"

"He will be just fine. Harry is simply in a deep sleep. His magic was nearly drained from the exertion."

"What happened?"

"Do you know why Quirrell couldn't stand to be touched by Harry?"

Draco shook his head, which he regretted, since it made him nauseous.

"Harry has a certain kind of protection, which lives in his very skin. Something that Voldemort cannot even begin to comprehend."

"What is that?"

"Love, Draco. Love. His mother sacrificed herself to save him. To have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, leaves a mark. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed and ambition, as well as sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch him for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good." Dumbledore paused to give Draco time to process all of that. "As for the Stone, is has been destroyed."

"Destroyed? But Sir, that means that your friend Nicolas will die."

"Oh, you know about Nicolas?" Dumbledore said in a delighted voice. "Well, Nicolas and I have had a little chat, and decided that it is for the best. For him and his wife, after all these years, it will just seem like going to bed after a very, very long day."

"I wonder how Harry got the Stone in the first place."

"Ahh. You see, only one who wanted to find the Stone, find it, but not use it, would be able to get it. That was one of my better ideas, and between you and me, that is saying something." Dumbledore winked at him, and Draco felt himself smiling.

"So, if the Stone is gone, then... does that mean that Voldemort can't come back?"

Dumbledore's gentle smile disappeared. "I'm afraid, there are other ways in which he can return. He left Quirrell to die, which only shows what little mercy he has for his followers."

"I never want to be like him."

Dumbledore's smile returned. "Then you won't. Rest now, my boy. I shall tell Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley that you are awake, if you care for visitors."

"That would be nice. Thank you, Sir."

"Very well." Dumbledore patted his leg then rose to let in Hermione and Ron, who were waiting right outside the doors.

* * *

Five days later, it was the end of term feast. It had taken two days for Theo to wake up, and three days for Harry. Draco was sick of explaining everything that happened, so he let Hermione and Ron tell most of it. For the first time since their first day at Hogwarts, everyone sat at the table they had been designated to. The great hall was decked out in bright yellow flags, to signify that Hufflepuff had won the house cup.

A crystal glass chimed at the head table and the entire hall went silent.

"Another year gone." Dumbledore said as he rose. "And from what I understand, the house cup needs rewarding, and the points stand thus: in fourth place, Slytherin, with two hundred sixty-two points."

Blaise cringed, knowing they were in last place because of him and Harry.

"In third place, Gryffindor, with three hundred fifty-two points. Second place, belongs to Ravenclaw, with three hundred seventy-two points. And in first place, Hufflepuff, with three hundred seventy-six points."

Theo looked around his table nervously while the table beside him cheered. He'd almost rather be in last place, than to miss it by just four points.

"Yes, well done everyone, well done. However, recent event must be taken into account, and I have a few last minute points to award. To Miss Hermione Granger, for her cool use of logic in the face of fire, fifty points."

Gryffindor table all cheered for her, turning her face red. Draco smiled broadly at her, she deserved the recognition.

"Second, to Mr. Ronald Weasley."

"Me?" Ron whispered, a goofy smile on his face.

"You." Draco smiled back.

"For the best played game of chess that Hogwarts has seen these many years, fifty points."

"To My. Draco Malfoy, for seeing the truth with heart instead of eyes, I award fifty points."

The Gryffindor table bursted into another fit of cheers.

"To Mr. Harry Potter. For pure nerve, and outstanding courage. I award Slytherin House sixty points."

Slytherin table cheered for him, although no one was louder than Blaise.

"Next, to Mr. Theodore Nott. For the intellect to stay calm, when others were in grave peril, fifty points."

Theo's table cheered for him, he shyly smiled at everyone around the room.

Hermione leaned over the table. "This means we're now tied with Ravenclaw."

"And finally. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends. I award ten points, to Mr. Neville Longbottom."

"Neville!" The entire Gryffindor table cheered. Hermione hugged him and Draco was clapping loudly across from him.

"Neville! You won us the house cup!" Ron shouted.

Neville seemed to be in shock, but a very faint smile crossed his face.

"Assuming my calculations are correct, I believe a change of decoration is in order." Dumbledore clapped his hands and the colors in the hall changed from yellow to red. "Gryffindor wins the house cup!"

Theo, Blaise and Harry could care less that they lost. Gryffindor won, which meant that Draco won. And more importantly, Neville won them the house cup.

The ride on the Hogwarts express was full of happiness. The seven best friends all crammed into one compartment on the train, with Ron and Harry perfectly content to sit on the floor. They laughed, and got their fill of candy and sweets before they pulled in to King's Cross Station. They exited the train slowly, prolonging the inevitable as long as they could. Ron spotted his mom and Ginny standing with Remus and Petunia as they went through the platform. As a group they all walked over to the parents.

"You must come visit this summer!" He said. "All of you!"

"Of course!" Hermione threw her arms around Ron, then went around their circle of friends, leaving Draco for last. He was very happy about that.

"Neville dear, we told your Gran we would pick you up." Petunia said to him. "She's waiting at Grimmauld."

"Nice!" Neville said excitedly. "Blaise, where's your mom?"

"Oh." He shuffled nervously. "She's around. I'll find her."

Harry didn't miss his sad face. "I'll write to you. Maybe you can stay at ours for a bit this summer, too."

"I'd like that." His face brightening.

"Oh! I see my parents!" Hermione squeaked and went running to drag them over to introduce them to everyone.

"Thank you for the sweater and fudge, Mrs. Weasley." Draco said politely.

"Yes, thank you." The rest of the group echoed.

"Oh, it was nothing dears." She said with a wave of her hand.

Hermione introduced her parents to everyone, which became quite the group. It took another twenty minutes for everyone to actually leave the platform.

"Well boys!" Remus said once they had made it to the car. "Did you have a good year?"

The four of them looked at each other with smirks. They'd gained so many friends and already looked forward to going back next year.

"The best year." They all said together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it, the final chapter for Sorcerer's Stone. I'm not sure when i'll be able to post Year two,but I've already started on The Chamber of Secrets! Thank you all for reading!


End file.
